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HE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE 
ON  JUDGMENTS  OF 
ABSOLUTE  PITCH 

Ml- 

3 


BY 
EVELYN  GOUGH  3aco-n 


AAx,^<^l^ 


Submitted  in  partial  fulfillment  of  the  requirements  for  the 

degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  in  the  Faculty  of 

Philosophy,  Columbia  University 


REPRINTED  FROM 

ARCHIVES  OF  PSYCHOLOGY 

E-  S.  WOODWORTH.  Editob 

No.  i? 


\ 


NEW  YORK 

Aphil,  1922 


517553 


THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE 

ON  JUDGMENTS  OF 

ABSOLUTE  PITCH 


BY 

EVELYN  GOUGH  Tacov 


Submitted  in  partial  fulfillment  of  the  requirements  for  the 

degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  in  the  Faculty  of 

Philosophy,  Columbia  University 


REPRINTED  FROM 

ARCHIVES  OF  PSYCHOLOGY 

R.  S.  WOODWORTH.  Editob 


No.  Jf7 


N 


NEW  YORK 

Aphil.  1922 


5 !  75i>«j 


^    lERKELEY 

WUSIC  LIBflARY 
UNIVfcRSITY  or 


hL35  3  0 

(>5      ^ 


/."■--A    i-    f  V. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Chapter    I.    Introduction. 

1.  Statement  of  the  problem 7 

2.  Review  of  experimental  studies  and  theories  in 

regard  to  memory  for  tones 7 

Chapter    II.    Observers    26 

Chapter   III.     Experiments     27 

1.  Test  I   27 

a.  Practice  in  the  identification  of  the  88  piano 
notes  (Group  1). 

b.  Identification  time. 

2.  Test  II '. 28 

Practice  in  the  identification  of  piano  notes  be- 
ginning with  a  single  octave  and  increasing 
the  range  by  octaves. 

3.  Test  III , 28 

Practice  in  the  identification*  of  violin  notes. 

4.  Test  IV 29 

Identification  of  pipe-organ  notes:  flute,  diapa- 
son, oboe  and  viola  stops. 

5.  Test  V 29 

Vocal  reproduction  of  the  notes  c^  and  a^  using  a 

Seashore  tonoscope. 

6.  Test  VI. 

Practice  in  the  identification  of  the  88  piano 
•  notes. 

a.  Group   2    29 

b.  Retesting  of  members  of  Group  1  and  2  . . . .     33 

c.  Group  3  (selected  music  students)   33 

7.  Test  VII 34 

Identification  of  chords. 

a.     Practice  series. 
^  b.     Single  test. 

8.  Test  VIII   34 

Identification  of  violin  notes,  with  the  move- 
ments of  the  observers  recorded  on  a  kymo- 
graph drum. 


'  "9/ 'f est  ir 'V.;.':' 34 

Series  of  identifications  of  tuning  forks. 

Chapter  IV.    Data  and  discussion. 

1.  Graphs  and  tables  for  the  experiments  with  the 

piano    36 

a.  Average  error  frequency 36 

b.  Error  frequencies  for  first  and  last  trials  . .  37 

c.  Average  frequency  of  correct  notes 38 

d.  Frequencies  of  correct  notes  in  first  and  last 
trials    39 

e.  Frequency  of  interval  errors 40 

f.  Average  time  per  note  (5  observers)   42 

g.  Average  time  for  correct  and  incorrect  notes 

(5  observers)    43 

h.    Individual  practice  curves   (5  observers  . .     44 

2.  Correlations  for  the  piano  experiments  between 

a.  Initial  and  final  performances. 

1.  Based  on  errors   38 

2.  Based  on  correct  notes 40 

b.  Number  of  correct  notes  and  average  error  38 

c.  Accuracy  of  judgment  and  size  of  semitone 
interval  in  vibrations  50 

d.  Average  time  and  average  error 43 

e.  Time  per  note  and  size  of  error 43 

f .  Practice  and  improvement 45 

g.  Musical  training  and  improvement 45 

h.    Number  of  years  of  musical  training  and 

average  error  45 

i.     Pitch  discrimination  and  average  error  ....     46 
j.     Size  of  error  at  last  trial  and  at  retesting  . .     46 

3.  Additional  data. 

a.  Average  error  in  the  piano  test  one  year  later    46 

b.  Individual  frequency  of  correctness  for  the 

88  notes  on  the  piano 47 

c.  Average  error  per  note,  range  of  positive  and 
negative  errors  and  median  position  for  each 
3-semitone  division  of  the  87  piano  notes  ...     50 

d.  Average  error  and  average  time  in  the  pipe- 
organ  tests   51 

e.  Violin  errors  and  correct  notes   52 

f .  Kymograph  records 53 


g.    Results  from  the  experiments  with  chords  . .     54 
h.    Results  from  the  experiment  with  tuning 

forks 54 

i.     Tonoscope  records   55 

Chapter  V.     Analysis  of  introspective  reports. 

1.  Responses  to  the  questionaire 68 

a.  Musical  training. 

b.  Musical  appreciation. 

c.  Musical  memory. 

d.  Imagery. 

e.  Methods  for  designating  notes. 

f.  Setting  of  notes. 

g.  Aids  and  hindrances. 

2.  Review  of  the  introspections  given  at  the  end  of 

each  sitting   71 

3.  Abstracts  from  the  introspections   of  the  ob- 

serves in  Group  1 72 

4.  Abstracts  from  the  introspections  given  after  the 

retesting  on  the  piano  one  year  later,  the  ex- 
periments  with  chords   and  the   experiment 

with  the  tuning  forks  82 

Chapter  VI.     Summary  and  Conclusions. 

1.  The  effects  of  practice 86 

a.  During  the  learning  period. 

(1)  The  reduction  of  errors. 

(2)  The  increase  in  the  number  of  correct 

notes. 

b.  The  following  year. 

2.  Group   characteristics    86 

3.  Individual  differences   (Group  1)    87 

4.  Effects  of  timbre   88 

5.  Kinaesthesis  during  the  judging  period   88 

6.  Reproduction  of  notes  89 

7.  Discussion  of  possible  criteria  for  tonal  judg- 

ments        89 

a.  Pitch. 

b.  Brightness  and  volume. 

c.  Octave  differences  and  vowel  qualities. 

d.  Octave  similarities. 

e.  Complexity  of  sound  wave. 

f .  Frequency  and  practice. 


PREFACE 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  express  here  my  gratitude  to  the 
many  people  who  aided  in  the  progress  of  this  investigation. 
John  W.  Baird,  under  whose  instruction  I  first  became  inter- 
ested in  the  problem,  directed  the  initial  stages  of  the  work. 
He  also  brought  me  into  communication  with  Professor  C.  A. 
Ruckmich  who  generously  contributed  the  report  of  a  simi- 
lar experiment  conducted  by  a  student  in  his  laboratory.  Pro- 
fessor C.  A.  Seashore  in  correspondence  suggested  new  as- 
pects of  the  problem  and  methods  of  approach.  I  am  especial- 
ly indebted  to  Professor  R.  S.  Woodworth  for  his  constant  en- 
couragement and  criticism  throughout  the  investigation. 

I  wish  to  thank  my  fellow  students,  Miss  R.  S.  Clark  and 
Miss  H.  J.  Sleeper,  my  sister,  Mrs.  E.  S.  Boegehold,  and  the 
many  undergraduates  at  Smith  College,  who  cooperated  so 
heartily  in  this  study.  I  also  extend  my  thanks  to  the  Depart- 
ment of  Music  at  Smith  College  for  affording  the  necessary 
facilities  for  carrying  on  the  experiments. 


VI 


The    Effects    of  Practice    on   Judgments 
of  Absolute   Pitch 


INTRODUCTION 

Many  striking  cases  of  absolute  pitch  memory  have  al- 
ready been  investigated,  yielding  interesting  and  valuable  re- 
sults. Individuals  who  possess  this  ability  in  a  high  degree 
are,  however,  unable  to  analyze  their  means  of  recognition 
and  trace  its  development.  They  identify  a  particular  note 
as  c^  in  the  same  way  that  they  recognize  any  familiar  per- 
cept or  respond  to  any  elementary  experience.  This  attitude 
has  led  to  the  belief  that  certain  highly  favored  people  are  en- 
dowed by  nature  with  an  unusual  tone-recognizing  mechanism 
which  has  been  denied  to  others. 

The  present  study  has  undertaken  to  investigate  to  what 
extent  the  average  individual  is  able  to  identify  notes,  and  to 
what  degree  his  initial  ability  may  be  improved  by  training. 
By  an  analysis  of  the  introspective  reports  given  at  these  tests 
and  a  comparison  of  these  reports  with  the  objective 
results,  it  is  possible  that  some  light  may  be  thrown  on  the 
general  problem  of  judgments  of  absolute  tone. 

Historical  Survey  A  review  of  the  literature  on  this  prob- 
lem brings  out  many  casual  observations  of  the  ability,  many 
speculations  as  to  its  nature  and  its  relation  to  other  abilities 
and  to  practice  effects,  and  also  a  number  of  systematic  studies 
in  this  field. 

Stumpf^  writes  as  early  as  1883  that  he  believes  the  indi- 
vidual differences  in  memory  for  pitch  to  be  due  to  such  varia- 
ble factors  as  practice  effects,  general  retentiveness  and  a  cer- 
tain inexplainable  individual  coefficient. 

,  '^  In  tests  on  a  group  of  musicians  he  finds  that  the  different 
regions  of  the  keyboard  have  varying  degrees  of  difficulty, 
and  that  clang-tint  affects  the  ability  to  identify  notes  to  a 
great  degree.  Different  observers  require  different  lengths 
of  time  for  judgment,  and  the  same  observer  varies  according 


'C.  Stumpf,  Tonpsychologie,  1883,  pp.  286-313. 


8  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

to  the  region  to  be  judged.    Stumpf s  own  results  from  six 
tests  on  the  piano  are  as  follows:^ 


Tests 


Cj      to       Bi 

g       to 

eb* 

f »•    to 

a* 

;s 

Number 

Number 

Number 

Number 

Number 

Number 

Correct 

Presented 

Correct 

Presented 

Correct 

Presented 

1 

1 

7 

10 

10 

3 

la 

2 

3 

14 

9 

9 

3 

13 

3 

13 

a       to 
12 

g«^ 

g'       to      iP 

3 

13 

6 

13 

4 

4 

13 

12 

13 

6 

13 

5 

3 

13 

10 

13 

5 

13 

6 

8 

13 

13 

13 

6 

13 

His  errors  are  mostly  intervals  of  a  semitone  or  a  whole  tone. 
A  few  extend  to  the  tritone,  but  never  include  fifths  or  sixths. 
Little  account  is  taken  of  octave  errors,  because  musicians 
make  slight  use  of  the  symbols  designating  the  octave  and 
consequently  do  not  easily  differentiate  them.  The  effects  of 
practice  are  noticeable  in  these  results. 

Stumpf  reports  a  test  he  made  on  a  girl  eight  years  old, 
using  the  sixty  piano  notes  between  C  and  c*.^  Thirty-nine 
notes  were  correctly  named.  Most  of  her  errors  lay  in  the 
three-accented  octave  and  occurred  among  the  accidentals. 
Black  keys  were  confused  with  other  black  keys,  as  cp  with 
fp.    She  was  less  able  to  identify  chords  than  single  notes. 

He  reports  the  case  of  a  man  who  could  recognize  the  keys 
of  chords  played  on  the  piano  or  played  by  an  orchestra,  but 
not  played  on  an  organ.^  And  he  was  unable  to  identify  indi- 
vidual notes.  Stumpf  explains  this  on  the  basis  of  the  direction 
of  musical  interest. 

Several  people  are  recorded  who  possessed  interval  mem- 
ories inferior  to  their  memories  for  absolute  pitch.^  If  a  piece 
was  played  in  an  unfamiliar  key,  even  though  it  might  be 
only  a  semitone  or  a  whole  tone  higher  or  lower  than  the 
accustomed  key,  it  was  necessary  for  them  to  transpose  indi- 
vidually each  note  to  the  new  key  before  being  able  to  sing 
or  play  the  melody. 

Further  conclusions  from  Stumpf's  investigation  of  the 
subject  are  that  absolute  pitch  memory  appears  very  seldom 
among  women,  and  that  it  is  not  an  indispensible  factor  in 

'Ibid,  p.  310. 

•C.  stumpf,  Tonpsychologie,  II,  1890,  pp.  553  f.  '    '    * 

•/6td,  p.  554.  -•- - 

•/6id,  p.  555.  ' 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  9 

musical  ability.^  He  attributes  much  importance  to  the  element 
of  frequency  in  establishing  a  good  memory  for  pitch,  but  re- 
gards as  more  fundamentalthe  individuaFs  initial  discrimin- 
aTive  abiRiy^nd  his  inherent  retentiveness  for  certain  kinds  of~ 
auditory  impressions. 

In  1892  von  Kries^  cites  a  number  of  observations  which 
he  made  on  himself  and  on  a  few  others  who  possessed  a  good 
memory  for  absolute  pitch.  Violin  pieces  are  occasionally 
written  for  violins  to  be  tuned  a  semitone  higher  than  normal- 
ly. Some  violinists  find  it  impossible  to  play  music  written  in 
this  way,  others  experience  no  difficulty.  Hence  von  Kries 
conjectures  that  the  latter  do  not  have  absolute  pitch  memory. 
He  agrees  with  Stumpf  in  finding  the  middle  range  the  easiest 
and  the  surest  to  judge.  The  notes  above  c*  and  below  C  are 
difficult  to  hear  distinctly. 

Arranging  the  different  musical  instruments  in  order  of 
ease  of  judgment,  the  piano  comes  first,  then  the  greater  num- 
ber of  string  and  wind  instruments,  then  the  voice,  tuning 
forks  and  whistles.  Since  the  different  clang  combinations 
influence  greatly  the  ability  to  judge  pitch,  he  concludes  that 
memory  images  are  not  the  essential  condition, — in  other 
words,  that  absolute  pitch  memory  does  not  involve  a  compar- 
ison judgment.  He  explains  this  form  of  memory  from  the 
Lehmann  association  point  of  view.  It  is  based  on  a  kind  of 
limited  association,  which  holds  only  for  certain  clangs.  He 
finds  in  studying  the  different  clangs  that  recognition  may 
have  all  grades  of  clearness.  A  sharp  line  is  not  to  be  drawn 
between  the  recognizable  and  the  non-recognizable  tones. 
With  long  practice  he  was  able  to  reduce  the  limits  of  the  un- 
recognizable, but  was  never  able  to  pass  from  indirect  to  di- 
rect judgments. 

He  rejects  the  theory ^Xg^A^^gj*  accompaniment,  for  in 
his  owiTcase  helias  more  success  in  judging  the  pitch  of  so- 
prano voices  than  male  voices,  and  tones  which  he  himself 
cannot  sing  at  all.  Frequency  of  hearing  certain  notes  does 
not  fully  explain  results  for  him,  for  in  spite  of  his  wide  ex- 
perience with  male  voices  and  his  slight  experience  with  the 
violin,  judgments  of  pitch  in  the  first  case  are  poor  and  in 
the  second  good.    He  hears  one-part  singing  oftenest  yet  can 


•Stumpf,  loc.  cit.,  I.,  p.  286. 

^J.  von  Kries,  Ueber  das  absolute  Gehor.   Zeitschrift  fur  Psychologic 
und  Physiologie  der  Sinnesorgane,  1892,  3,  pp.  257-279. 


10  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

judge  the  pitch  of  several-part  singing  more  easily.  He  finds 
many  cases  of  people  who  can  recognize  keys  and  chords,  but 
not  single  notes. 

Richness  in  overtones  seems  to  be  the  most  predominant 
factor  contributing  toward  absolute  pitch  memory,  although 
these  tones  need  not  be  present  consciously  to  the  observer. 
The  fact  that  the  human  voice  gives  difficulty  he  thinks  may 
possibly  be  explained  by  the  interference  of  the  vowel  sounds 
in  singing. 

A  report  is  made  by  Meyer^  in  1889  of  an  investigation 
in  which  he  and  one  other  observer  attempted  to  develop  ab- 
solute pitch  memories  through  practice.  They  worked  two 
months  using  the  notes  produced  by  sixteen  tuning  forks  vary- 
ing from  100  V.  d.  to  4000  v.  d.,  and  four  months  using  from 
ten  to  thirty-nine  notes  produced  on  the  piano.  More  than 
half  their  judgments  were  correct  and  the  size  of  the  errors 
was  very  small.  After  discontinuing  practice  for  several 
years  Meyer  found  they  had  lost  the  greater  part  of  what  they 
had  acquired. 

The  following  questionnaire  was  sent  to  one  hundred  mu- 
sicians by  Abraham,^  who  bases  his  conclusions  regarding 
memory  for  absolute  pitch  in  part  upon  the  replies  he  received : 

1.  How  long  have  you  possessed  absolute  pitch  memory? 

2.  Do  you  play  or  sing?     How  long? 

3.  Do  you  compose?  Do  you  improvise  on  some  instrument? 
Is  it  difficult  for  you  to  find  the  correct  bass  for  the  melodies 
you  know? 

4.  Does  your  memory  for  pitch  include  the  ability  to  produce 
by  singing  or  whistling  certain  notes  as  well  as  the  ability 
to  name  correctly  notes  you  hear  ? 

5.  How  do  you  arrive  at  your  correct  judgment?  Is  it  imme- 
diate judgment  by  a  conscious  comparison  with  a  note  in  mem- 
ory or  by  singing  the  note  heard?  Can  you  think  of  a  note 
without  singing  it  or  hearing  it?  What  timbre  has  this  note? 
Do  you  compare  the  note  heard  with  the  relatively  lowest  or 
highest  singing  tone  which  you  can  produce? 

6.  Is  it  easier  for  you  to  recognize  a  note  in  a  melody  or  the 
key  of  a  chord  than  a  single  note? 


'M.  Meyer,  Is  the  Memory  of  Absolute  Pitch  Capable  of  Development 
by  Training?    Psychological  Review,  1899,  6,  pp.  514-516. 

*0.  Abraham,  Das  absolute  Tonbewusstein.  Sammelhefte  der  inter- 
nationalen  Musikgesellschaft,  1901,  3,  pp.  1-86. 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  11 

7.  In  singing  correctly  a  note  from  memory  do  you  image  its 
notation  on  the  staff,  or  do  you  think  of  a  song  which  begins 
on  this  note? 

8.  Has  your  pitch  memory  upper  or  lower  limits  in  range? 
Do  you  judge  one  octave  better  than  another? 

9.  How  loudly  and  how  long  must  the  note  be  sounded  for  you 
to  judge  it  easily? 

10.  What  errors  in  judgment  do  you  sometimes  make?  Octave, 
fifth,  semitone,  etc.? 

11.  Have  all  the  as  for  example,  some  likeness  which  distin- 
guishes them  from  b,  c,  etc.?  Is  this  similarity  present  in  a 
lesser  degree  between  a  and  e? 

12.  Can  you  tell  when  an  instrument  is  a  quarter  or  an  eighth 
of  a  tone  higher  or  lower  than  another  if  a  long  period  of  time 
intervenes  between  the  two  sounds? 

13.  When  a  song  is  transposed  by  an  accompanist  can  you 
sing  it  easily,  or  must  you  transpose  it  yourself  mentally? 

14.  Does  difference  in  timbre  affect  your  ability  to  judge 
notes? 

15.  Have  you  a  good  memory  for  melodies?  Must  you  think 
of  a  melody  always  in  its  correct  key,  or  can  you  imagine  it 
in  any  key? 

16.  Did  you  develop  or  improve  your  memory  for  pitch  by 
practice?    Is  it  hereditary? 

17.  Do  you  think  of  colors  in  connection  with  notes? 

Abraham  also  made  experiments  in  regard  to  the  influence 
of  pitch,  intensity,  duration  of  sound,  time-interval  between 
notes  and  tone-color  on  memory  for  absolute  pitch.  He  found 
that  the  range  of  the  ability  is  wide  and  variable,  and  does  not 
coincide  with  the  range  of  ability  for  sensible  discrimination. 
Loud  notes  in  which  the  high  overtones  are  prominent  are 
judged  higher  than  they  are.  The  pitch  judgment  does  not 
require  a  longer  stimulus  time  than  that  necessary  for  percep- 
tion, but  repetition  of  the  stimulus  increases  the  assurance. 
Notes  without  overtones  are  judged  lower  than  they  actually 
are. 

According  to  Abraham's  results  some  people  possess  ab- 
solute pitch  memory  without  special  practice,  others  are  able 
to  acquire  it  through  practice,  and  others  are  never  able  by 
any  means  to  acquire  it.  He  attributes  this  ability  to  an  indi- 
vidual factor  which  may  be  due  to  a  certain  fineness  of  sen- 
sory apparatus  by  which  individuals  recognize  separate  tone 


12  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

qualities  in  their  finer  differences,  or  to  certain  unique  cere- 
bral conditions.  This  memory  depends  on  associations  formed 
in  the  auditory  realm  alone,  and  therefore  lacks  the  many  aids 
to  memory  which  are  found  in  other  types  of  learning.  "If 
a  child  is  shown  a  clock,  he  sees  it,  feels  its  shape,  hears  it  tick, 
feels  the  coldness  of  it,  etc.  The  different  senses  help  him  to 
realize  the  object,  so  that  he  can  always  recognize  it  as  a  clock 
in  the  future  ....  Absolute  color  consciousness  seems  to  be 
more  common  than  absolute  tone  consciousness.  Very  fine 
differences  of  color  are  recognized,  and  color  shades  are  pro- 
duced in  imagination  by  the  name.  However,  I  find  that  the 
color  always  attaches  itself  to  some  definite  object.  I  can- 
not imagine  brownish  red  purely  as  a  color,  but  must 
think  of  the  portiere  in  my  room.  We  cannot  use  instances 
like  this  to  help  us  in  our  decision  of  pitch.  We  can  only  fix 
the  pitch  by  itself  in  our  memories."^'*  Other  factors  which 
hinder  the  development  of  absolute  pitch  memory  are  the 
variations  in  the  keys  in  which  a  child  hears  the  same  song 
sung  and  played,  the  variations  in  the  standard  pitch  for  dif- 
ferent instruments  for  different  purposes  and  the  use  of  the 
tonic  sol  fa  system,  where  do  may  sometimes  be  c,  sometimes 
e\),  etc. 

Certain  indirect  methods  may  aid  in  determining  the  cor- 
rect pitch  of  a  note.  The  pain  sensations  which  accompany 
very  high  notes,  'colored-hearing,'  feelings  of  tension  in  hum- 
ming a  note,  emotional  reaction,  and  the  characteristic  pitch 
of  the  ear  drum  might  be  used  as  bases  for  inference.  Visual 
images  of  the  note  or  the  key  of  the  piano,  or  of  oneself  sitting 
at  the  piano,  or  the  scene  from  some  opera  are  sometimes 
used.  These  devises  have  no  part  in  a  good  tonal  memory, 
but  they  may  lead  to  a  firm  impression  of  the  note  on  the  mem- 
ory. 

A  person  who  has  the  "power  of  true  tone  imagination," 
or  the  ability  to  call  up  a  note  at  will,  is  able  to  make  exceed- 
ingly fine  judgments  of  absolute  tone,  such  as  judgments 
of  notes  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  tone  apart,  because  he  can 
compare  each  note  he  hears  with  the  note  in  his  imagination. 
These  two  aspects  of  tonal  memory  are  inseparable,  but  each 
marks  a  different  stage  in  the  development  of  the  ability. 

Absolute  key  consciousness  is  often  confused  with  the  rec- 
ognition of  certain  physical  differences  in  the  notes  of  different 

"Abraham,  loc.  cit.,  p.  9. 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  13 

instruments.  The  white  keys  on  the  piano  give  a  louder  sound 
than  the  black  keys,  partly  because  one  uses  a  more  powerful 
touch  on  pressing  them  down,  and  partly  because  the  subduing 
effect  of  the  hammer,  as  the  white  keys  are  played  more  fre- 
quently, is  very  soon  lessened  disproportionately.  The  open 
strings  of  bowed  instruments  sound  brighter  than  the  other 
notes,  so  that  they  give  the  keys  in  which  they  are  used  a  great 
deal,  especially  those  in  which  they  are  the  key  notes,  a  bright- 
er character.  The  natural  tones  of  wind  instruments  sound 
brighter  than  those  made  by  stops,  etc.  One's  feeling  for 
keys  is  undoubtedly  affected  by  assocations  of  various  kinds. 
If  a  composer  has  written  a  powerful  piece  in  d-minor,  later 
musicians  come  unconsciously  to  associate  that  key  with 
power. 

Experiments  made  by  Abraham  on  a  man  who  claimed  to 
be  able  to  recognize  keys  but  not  single  notes,  show  that  only 
/J-minor  could  be  correctly  recognized,  and  only  when  played 
on  his  ovm  piano.  Abraham  concludes  that  the  existence  of 
absolute  key  consciousness  without  absolute  tone  conscious- 
ness is  very  uncertain. 

Abraham  believes  this  ability  is  an  important  part  of  a 
musician's  equipment,  but  taken  alone  need  not  indicate  mu- 
sicianship. He  finds  it  frequently  accompanies  imperfect 
melody  memory,  which  he  explains  on  the  theory  that  the  as- 
sociation paths  within  the  auditory  area  from  tone  to  tone 
are  more  numerous  or  more  closely  knit  together  than  the 
paths  from  tones  to  other  sensory  areas,  as  to  a  word,  a  vis- 
ual image,  etc. 

Other  possible  explanations  for  the  decidedly  different 
character  of  different  keys  on  piano  and  bowed  instruments 
are  offered  by  Helmholtz.^^  "C-major  and  the  adjacent  d\)- 
major  have  different  effects.  That  this  difference  is  not  caused 
by  difference  of  absolute  pitch  can  be  determined  by  compar- 
ing two  different  instruments  tuned  to  different  pitches.  The 
'd^  of  the  one  instrument  may  be  as  high  (sic)  as  the  c  of  the 
other,  and  yet  on  both  the  c-major  retains  its  brighter  and 
stronger  character,  and  the  d\)  its  soft  and  veiled  harmoni- 
ous effect.""  This  may  be  due,  as  Abraham  has  said  to  the 
method  of  striking  the  short  black  keys  of  the  piano,  or  as 


"H.  von  Helmholtz,  SensatioTis  of  tone,  Trans,  by  A.  J.  Ellis,  1895,  pp. 
310-330. 

"/6id,  p.  311. 


14  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

Ellis"  suggests  to  the  different  leverage  of  the  black  keys, 
so  that  each  key  has  a  different  distribution  of  the  stronger 
and  gentler  quality  of  tone  among  the  varying  degrees  of  the 
scale.  Further  the  difference  made  in  the  tuning  of  those 
fifths  which  the  tuner  keeps  to  the  last,  and  on  which  are 
crowded  the  whole  of  the  errors  in  tuning  the  other  fifths  in 
the  circle  of  fifths,  may  be  regular  and  contribute  to  this  effect. 

On  bowed  instruments  the  notes  from  the  open  strings 
color  the  key  by  the  inequality  of  intonation.  The  open  strings 
give  perfect  fifths,  but  in  playing  in  different  keys  if  each  note 
has  the  same  sound  throughout,  the  other  fifths  will  not  be 
perfect.  Hence  the  scales  of  the  various  keys  will  differ  in 
intonation  and  in  character.  Wind  instruments  illustrate  this 
in  an  even  more  striking  manner. 

Another  possibility  is  that  g*,  the  proper  tone  of  the  hu- 
man ear,  which  sounds  peculiarly  shrill  at  all  times,  may  color 
those  notes  which  possess  it  as  an  upper  partial,  as  g^,  c%  g~, 
and  give  to  them  a  brighter  and  more  piercing  character  than 
other  notes. 

Boggs^*  investigated  memory  for  absolute  pitch  in  a  group 
of  especially  endowed  individuals,  all  of  whom  had  a  musical 
inheritance  and  early  musical  training.  Her  observers  dis- 
played immediateness  of  recognition  and  sureness  of  judg- 
ment. Concentration  of  attention  was  found  to  be  of  great 
importance.  Extraordinarily  good  discrimination  of  pitch 
was  not  observed  and  imagery  did  not  seem  to  be  particularly 
necessary.  A  strong  emotional  feeling  for  music  as  a  whole 
was  shown,  but  not  for  isolated  notes.  Her  observers  reported 
that  they  were  conscious  of  overtones  and  that  the  pitch  of  the 
particular  piano  used  made  practically  no  difference  in  their 
judgments. 

This  factor  of  attention  to  overtones  led  Boggs  to  believe 
that  each  note  is  heard  in  its  relationship  to  other  notes  as 
part  of  a  tonal  system.  This  view  is  supported  by  the  fact 
that  chords  are  frequently  more  easy  to  identify  than  single 
notes.  This  tonal  system  is  a  qualitative  one  comparable  to 
a  phase  of  the  spectrum  in  vision,  each  system  being  regulated 
in  part  by  differences  in  vibration  rate.  The  tonal  scale  cor- 
responds to  the  brightness  variations.     Hence  the  average 


"Ibid,  p.  311. 

"L.  P.  Boggs,  Studies  in  Absolute  Pitch.    American  Journal  of  Psy- 
chology, 1907,  18,  pp.  194-205. 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  15 

person  might  hear  the  scale  in  the  same  way  that  a  color- 
blind person  sees  the  spectrum  as  graduated  succession  of 
brightnesses. 

Writing  on  tests  for  musical  ability,  Rupp^^  states  that 
memory  for  absolute  pitch  is  in  general  indicative  of  musical 
ability.  Although  it  does  not  constitute  the  essence  of  this 
ability,  it  is  closely  bound  up  with  other  musical  qualities. 
Since  he  examined  only  a  small  number  of  cases,  he  cannot 
attach  a  high  degree  of  certainty  to  his  correlation. 

He  suggests  the  method  of  minimal  changes  as  advanta- 
geous for  the  study  of  the  upper  and  lower  thresholds  for  the 
memory  of  notes.  For  instance  by  slowly  changing  the  pitch 
on  a  variator,  one  can  discover  within  what  limits  the  sounds 
seem  like  aS  c^,  etc. 

He  finds,  as  has  been  before  mentioned,  that  the  sureness 
and  exactness  of  memory  is  not  the  same  for  different  notes 
and  octaves.  More  mistakes  were  made  in  the  extremes  than 
in  the  middle  octaves.  A  and  c  iri  the  different  octaves  were 
recognized  more  quickly  than  other  notes  which  were  named 
with  hesitation  and  sometimes  by  reference  to  c  and  a.  The 
differences  in  the  tone  color  of  different  instruments  was  a 
hindrance  which  led  to  indirect  judgments  such  as  comparing 
the  tone  of  new  timbre  with  more  familiar  tones.  By  con- 
tinued practice  Rupp  believes  it  is  possible  to  reach  correct 
absolute  pitch  judgments  without  intermediary  aids.  A  long 
series  of  impressions  of  notes  would  lead  in  time  to  a  firm, 
lasting  impression.  This  may  be  either  acoustic  or  kinaes- 
thetic  memory. 

In  reproducing  notes  as  distinguished  from  recognizing 
notes  heard,  the  individual's  technique  in  handling  his  instru- 
ment is  an  important  factor  in  his  success.  Hence  a  good 
vocalist  without  absolute  pitch  memory  might  make  a  better 
showing  than  a  poor  singer  with  memory  for  pitch. 

The  results  from  experiments  on  absolute  pitch  memory, 
\,  conducted  by  a  student  in  the  Psychological  Laboratory  at  the 
University  of  Illinois,  were  made  available  for  the  writer 
through  the  kindness  of  Professor  C.  A.  Ruckmich.^^  In  order 
to  investigate  the  problem,  "Can  absolute  pitch  be  cultivated," 
practice  experiments  were  made  individually  on  two  musical 


"H.  Rupp,  Ueber  die  Prufung  musikalischer  Fahigkeiten,  Teil  I,  Zeit- 
schrift  fur  angewandte  Psychologie,  1914,  9,  pp,  1-76. 
"Can  Absolute  Pitch  be  Cultivated?   Manuscript,  1916. 


16  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

adults  who  possessed  varying  degrees  of  accuracy  in  pitch 
memory,  two  children,  nine  and  twelve  years  of  age,  and  the 
students  in  an  ear  training  class.  The  observers  began  by 
trying  to  impress  on  their  memories  the  notes  c^,  e^  and  g^. 
After  a  time  all  the  white  keys  in  the  once  accented  octave 
were  undertaken  and  later  the  range  was  extended  to  two  oc- 
taves. The  black  keys  in  the  middle  range  were  then  added. 
The  class  in  ear  training  was  given  notes  taken  at  random 
from  the  entire  keyboard. 

The  results  from  this  practice  evidence  a  degree  of  im- 
provement. Both  the  size  and  the  percentage  of  error  are  de- 
creased. The  average  time  from  all  the  experiments  for  the 
correct  judgments  is  slightly  less  than  that  for  the  incorrect, 
although  this  does  not  always  hold  in  single  tests.  The  writer 
concludes  that  accuracy  of  judgment  varies  directly  with  the 
speed. 

In  testing  the  children  the  experimenter  found  it  impossi- 
ble in  spite  of  his  efforts  to  lead  them  to  think  of  a  note  in 
terms  of  absolute  pitch.  They  insisted  on  making  their  judg- 
ments relative  to  some  other  note,  usually  c,  which  they  seemed 
to  remember  remarkably  well. 

On  account  of  the  difficulties  involved  in  explaining  the 
many  aspects  of  memory  for  absolute  pitch  as  due  either  to 
the  complexity  of  the  sound  wave,  or  to  the  familiarity  with 
certain  clangs,  Kohler^^  is  led  to  believe  that  recognition  of 
notes  is  in  many  cases  the  result  not  of  a  memory  for  pitch*, 
but  a  memory  for  some  other  feature  of  tonal  body.  He  quotes 
such  aspects  as  the  immediateness  of  the  recognition  of  those 
who  possess  good  tonal  memory,  their  proverbially  poor  in- 
terval memories,  their  incompetence  in  the  face  of  some  new 
clang  tint,  the  superiority  of  the  recognition  of  chords  over  the 
recognition  of  single  tones,  and  the  frequency  of  errors  of  the 
octave  interval,  of  fifths  and  of  fourths. 

With  the  importance  of  tonal  body  in  mind,  Kohler  made 
an  experimental  study  on  himself  trying  to  learn  the  notes 
of  the  white  keys  between  c  and  b^.  After  fourteen  days  prac- 
tice he  was  convinced  of  the  value  of  this  method.  Half  his 
220  judgments  were  correct  and  the  majority  of  his  interval 
errors  corresponded  to  the  errors  of  individuals  in  whom  ab- 


"W.  Kohler,  Akustische  Untersuchungen,  Zeitschrift  fiir  Psychologie. 
1915,  72,  pp.  159-177. 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  17 

solute  pitch  memory  was  native,  i.  e.,  errors  of  the  octave, 
fifth  and  fourth. 

His  results  lead  him  to  the  conclusion  that  memory  for 
tonal  body  may  be  the  criterion  for  correct  tonal  judgments 
and  affords  a  plausible  explanation  for  many  of  the  striking 
characteristics  alleged  to  belong  to  memory  for  pitch.  Neither 
pitch  nor  tone  body  alone  cover  all  cases,  therefore  either  one 
may  be  effective  in  the  judgment.  He  explains  the  difficulty 
in  judging  tones  from  human  voices  as  the  result  of  the  con- 
tinual shifting  of  the  register  by  the  variation  in  vowel  sounds. 
He  quotes  Max  Meyer  and  Heyfelder  as  supporting  his  view 
that  pitch  alone  is  not  adequate  to  explain  the  problem. 

The  most  extensive  investigation  of  the  nature  of  absolute 
pitch  memory  was  made  by  Baird.^*  All  his  observers  were 
more  or  less  highly  trained  musicians  who  possessed  some  de- 
gree of  memory  for  absolute  pitch.  Nine  observers  took  part 
in  identifying  the  pitch  of  the  eighty-eight  notes  of  the  piano, 
taken  in  random  order  (i.  e.,  naming  the  note  definitely  as 
c%  A2,  etc.),  and  five  observers  took  part  in  identifying  sixty 
notes  of  the  pipe-organ,  using  the  flute,  diapason,  reed  and 
string  stops,  fifty-five  notes  ranging  from  J5b  to  gp  sung  by 
four  vocalists,  soprano,  contralto,  tenor  and  bass,  twenty-four 
notes,  c^  to  c^  of  the  flute  and  the  clarinet,  fourteen  tuning 
forks  ranging  from  c  to  c%  twenty-three  notes  beyond  the  key- 
board of  the  piano  from  d'^  to  c^  using  Konig  bars  and  the  Gal- 
ton  whistle.  In  another  group  of  experiments  he  obtained  the 
reaction  time  by  means  of  a  Hipp  Chronoscope.  The  observer 
was  asked  to  name  notes  of  the  piano  and  organ  without  des- 
ignating the  octave.  In  a  third  group  of  experiments  six 
observers  were  asked  to  reproduce  the  notes  of  an  octave  by 
means  of  the  Tonvariator.  Determinations  were  made  in  an 
ascending  and  a  descending  direction. 

His  results  in  regard  to  note  errors  show  great  individual 
variation.  (1)  Although  the  observers  belong  to  a  highly 
selected  group,  their  average  error  in  identifying  piano  notes 
varies  from  1.1  per  cent,  to  74  per  cent.  This  is  true  also 
for  the  identification  of  notes  of  other  clang  tints.  (2)  A  vari- 
ation of  accuracy  with  clang  tint  is  found  in  the  case  of  each 
observer.  Arranging  these  in  order  of  the  ease  of  identifica- 
tion for  each  person,  marked  individual  preferences  are  found. 


"J.  W.   Baird,  Memory  for  Absolute   Pitch,  Studies  in  Psychology^ 
Titchener  Commemorative  Volume,  1917,  pp.  43-78. 


18  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

On  the  whole  the  piano  notes  are  most  easily  identified.  Then 
follow  in  approximate  order  the  notes  from  the  organ,  the 
flute,  the  clarinet,  and  the  voice.  The  results  from  the"  other 
clang  tints  are  uncertain.  {3)  The  middle  range  of  the  piano 
is  in  every  case  most  accurately  named.  The  average  percent- 
ages of  error  distributed  over  the  tonal  scale  by  octaves  are  for 
nine  observers  as  follows : 


A,-Ba 

C,-B, 

C-B 

c-b 

c^-b^ 

c^-b' 

c'-b' 

c^-c" 

57.1 

51.7 

42.0 

28.5 

19.9 

23.5 

30.8 

43.4 

Greater  individual  variation  occurs  in  identifying  pipe-organ 
notes.  (^)  The  naturals  are  usually  identified  with  greater 
ease  than  the  accidentals,  although  here  again  great  individu- 
al variation  is  found.  Every  observer  was  more  successful  in 
naming  certain  notes  of  the  octave  than  others  in  the  case  of 
both  piano  and  organ  notes  with  little  coincidence  of  prefer- 
ence in  the  same  individual  with  these  two  instruments.  The 
averages  from  all  observers  show  that  /  and  c  are  most  accu- 
rately identified  on  the  piano  and  g  and  c  on  the  organ,  whereas 
c#  and  h\)  are  least  accurately  identified  in  both  cases.  (5) 
A  central  tendency  of  judgment  is  noticeable.  Low  pitched 
notes  tend  to  be  judged  too  high  and  high  pitched  notes  too 
low.  Overestimations  of  pitch  are  relatively  more  frequent 
for  piano  notes  and  underestimations  for  organ  notes.  {6) 
The  size  of  the  error  varies  from  one  semitone  to  two  octaves. 
The  proportion  of  gross  errors  increases  with  the  decrease  in 
number  of  correct  judgments  from  one  person  to  another 
and  with  the  same  persons  from  one  instrument  to^  another. 
(7)  Certain  observers  habitually  make  the  same  mistakes. 
Errors  of  a  fifth  occur  in  51  cases,  errors  of  a  fourth  in  54 
cases,  errors  of  a  sixth  in  70  cases,  and  errors  of  a  third  in 
80  cases.  (Baird's  observers  show  a  tendency  to  call  many  of 
the  uncertain  notes  g,  for  c,  d,  e,  f,  h\)  and  h  are  wrongly 
identified  as  (/  a  large  number  of  times.)  From  these  findings 
Baird  concludes  that  the  notes  least  subject  to  tonal  fusion  are 
most  subject  to  confusion.  Although  the  observers  believed 
they  were  aware  of  qualitative  differences  between  naturals 
and  accidentals,  no  evidence  is  found  to  support  their  view. 
In  the  case  of  errors  among  the  accidentals,  38%  are  misiden- 
tified  as  naturals,  12.1%  as  accidentals.  On  the  other  hand  in 
the  case  of  errors  among  the  naturals,  20.1%  are  misidentified 
as  accidentals,  and  29.8%  as  naturals.  This  shows  that  the 
response  of  'natural'  occurs  more  than  twice  as  frequently 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  19 

as  the  response  of  'accidental.'  (8)  Some  slight  ability  to 
identify  pitches  beyond  the  range  of  the  piano  is  found.  The 
observers  report  that  above  c'  the  pitch  is  indistinct  and 
smothered  by  noise. 

Octave  errors  are  common  in  the  identifications  of  all  the 
observers  in  every  kind  of  clang  tint,  but  are  subject  to  much 
individual  variation.  They  are  more  frequent  in  the  more  ac- 
curate observers  with  one  notable  exception,  and  more  fre- 
quent with  relatively  easy  clang  tints.  Baird  distinguishes 
two  stages  in  the  process  of  identification,  an  initial  stage 
which  consists  in  a  prompt  naming  of  the  note  and  a  subse- 
quent stage  in  which  the  observer  names  the  octave  to  which 
the  note  belongs.  These  two  responses  are  usually  separated 
by  an  appreciable  interval,  and  the  degree  of  subjective  assur- 
ance is  less  for  the  octave  identification  than  for  the  name  of 
the  note. 

The  results  for  identification  time  show  that  piano  notes 
are  more  quickly  recognized  than  organ  notes,  that  the  notes 
in  the  middle  range  are  more  quickly  recognized  than  those  at 
the  extremes,  and  that  a  fairly  close  correspondence  exists 
between  accuracy  and  promptness  of  response. 

Wide  individual  differences  are  shown  in  the  ability  to 
produce  given  notes  by  means  of  the  variator.  The  degree 
of  accuracy  of  each  observer  corresponds  fairly  well  with 
her  degree  of  accuracy  of  identification  of  notes.  Wide  tonal 
"bands"  with  considerable  overlapping  of  neighboring  notes 
satisfy  those  who  are  least  accurate  in  their  identifications. 
Those  most  accurate  in  the  previous  tests  reproduce  notes 
with  relatively  narrow  bands,  without  overlapping,  located 
at  appropriate  regions  in  the  tonal  scale. 

Baird  rejects  as  inadequate  the  theory  that  complexity  of 
sound  wave  is  the  important  factor  in  the  identification  of 
pitch.  He  advances  an  alternative  explanation  which  is  sup- 
parked  by  results  of  investigations  on  vocality.^^  This  states 
that  distinctive  qualities  attach  to  different  regions  of  the 


^"Kohler  found  in  using  tuning  forks  as  stimuli  that  a  series  of  tones 
ranging  from  163  v.  d.  to  4000  v.  d.  gives  a  series  of  vowel  qualities 
which  can  be  arranged  like  those  of  color.  As  red  shades  gradually  into 
orange  and  orange  into  yellow,  similarly  in  the  tonal  system  the  vowel 
quality  u  (moon)  passes  through  u-o,  o-u  to  o,  and  so  on  to  a  (father), 
e  (prey),  and  i  (machine).  Later  in  using  Stern  variators  with  inter- 
ference apparatus  he  obtained  the  pitches  of  the  pure  vowels  and  added 
e,  f  and  ch  to  the  upper  range  and  m  to  the  lower.  His  pure  vowels  fell 
regularly  into  octaves. 


20  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

tonal  scale.    One  may  experience  these  qualities  a  single  time 
possibly  and  from  that  time  be  able  to  recognize  them  when 
they  recur  just  as  the  normal  individual  recognizes  the  elemen- 
tary experiences  after  a  single  occurrence.    On  examining  the 
process  of  recognition  in  his  observers  Baird  does  not  find  an 
initial  learning  period  filled  with  a  variety  of  mental  content, 
which  later  fades  out  as  recognition  becomes  immediate,  such 
as  is  necessary  for  acquisitions  of  mental  or  motor  skill.    His 
observers  claimed  that  they  had  never  attempted  training  of 
this  kind,  but  had  simply  discovered  at  an  early  age  this  abili- 
ty, which  apparently  remained  unchanged.     The  literature 
on  practice  experiments  in  this  field  strengthens  his  belief 
that  "memory  for  absolute  pitch  is  based  upon  an  ability  to 
/  detect  the  presence  of  the  c-quality  which  is  obscurely  present 
/   in  every  c,  of  the  d-quality  which  is  obscurely  present  in  every 
/     d,  etc.  .  .  .  Given  this  base  as  the  advent  of  the  capacity  to 
\^    recognize  pitches  is  inevitable  and  abrupt."^" 

The  importance  in  pitch  recognition  of  the  so-called  tonal 
attributes  of  quality  and  vocality,  defined  by  Revesz^^  as  that 
which  recurs  at  every  octave  and  that  which  is  different  in 
different  octaves,  has  been  emphasized  by  a  number  of  writ- 
ers. Max  Meyer,^^  writing  in  1914,  believes  that  the  distinc- 
tion between  tonality  and  vocality  is  essential  for  an  under- 
standing of  memory  for  absolute  pitch.  Revesz^^  states  that 
there  may  be  several  kinds  of  memories  for  absolute  pitch, 
in  which  one  or  the  other  or  both  attributes  play  a  part.  A 
musical  interval  can  be  either  a  span  in  vocality,  or  a  relation 
of  tonality,  or  both. 

The  psychological  status  of  these  two  characteristics  is 
a  matter  of  dispute.  Do  they  rank  as  attributes  of  sensation, 
or  as  perceptions,  or  are  they  completely  outside  the  tonal 
series?  Stumpf-*  denies  on  the  basis  of  introspection  that 
vowel  qualities  are  comparable  to  the  color  series,  and  ex- 
plains octave  similarity  as  due  to  the  degree  of  fusion,  an  ul- 
timate fact  of  hearing.    In  1914  he  writes  that  the  primary 


""Baird,  loc.  cit.,  p.  78. 

"M.  Meyer,  Review  of  Revesz,  Psychological  Bulletin,  1914,  11,  p.  349. 

'Ibid. 

"Ibid. 

""Quoted  from  G.  T.  Rich,  A  Study  of  Tonal  Attributes,  AmeHcan  Jour- 
nal of  Psychology,  1919,  30,  pp.  121,  125. 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  21 

qualities  lie  within  a  single  octave.^'^  Rich=^^  reports  a  recent 
experimental  study  of  tonal  attributes  in  which  he  concludes 
that  vowel  quality  judgments  are  perceptions,  but  he  is  in 
doubt  whether  to  regard  tonality  as  attributive  or  perceptual 
Watt"  denies  the  view  that  vowels  are  primary  qualities  of 
hearing  or  in  any  sense  attributive.  He  believes  vowels  hold 
a  mid-position  between  tones  and  noises.  Also  octave  similar- 
ities do  not  require  a  theory  of  octave  qualities  in  explanation 
but  can  be  interpreted  as  the  result  of  the  symmetry  of  volu- 
mic  relations. 

Watt^^  offers  an  explanation  for  absolute  pitch  memory 
on  the  basis  of  his  analysis  of  tones.  Tones  are  systems  of 
sound  possessing  six  attributes,  (1)  intensity,  (2)  extension 
or  volume,  (3)  systemic  order,  under  which  heading  pitch  falls, 
(4)  a  single  quality  characteristic  of  all  tones,  (5)  temporal 
order,  and  (6)  durance.  Pitch  is  not  to  be  identified  with  tone, 
but  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  intensively  predominant  order  of 
the  whole  volume,  which  is  symmetrically  balanced  in  relation 
to  pitch.  Differences  in  pitch  illustrate  the  ordinal  series  in 
sound  as  distinguished  from  a  qualitative  series.  A  unit  in 
the  tonal  series  is  better  described  in  quantitative  terms  as 
'this  one,'  and  'that  one'  and  'the  next  one,'  than  in  qualitative 
terms  as  'this  sort  of  one,'  'that  sort  of  one,'  and  'the  other  sort 
of  one.'  A  scale  is  a  series  of  volumes  of  constant  proportions, 
an  octave  simply  a  pattern  of  volumic  relations,  which  has  set 
an  artificial  standard  for  the  whole  range,  and  a  musical  inter- 
val an  intensive  volumic  outline.  Both  absolute  ear  and  rela- 
tive ear  are  based  on  these  relationships.  For  the  former  a 
point  of  reference  in  auditory  orders  is  required.  "Absolute 
ear  emerges  when  the  natural  absoluteness  of  tonal  orders 
maintains  its  efficiency  in  spite  of  the  tremendous  emphasis 
laid  on  relativity  or  proportion  in  music."^^ 

Naming  tones  correctly  is  on  a  par  with  localizing  accu- 
rately a  point  touched  on  the  skin.  Each  is  dependent  on  the 
attribute  of  order.  The  chief  reason  why  many  fall  short 
in  the  first  case  is  due  to  the  extraordinary  emphasis  laid  by 


"R.  M.  Ogden,  Tonal  Attributes,  Psychological  Bulletin,  1917,  14,  pp. 
161-162. 

"G.  T.  Rich,  A  Study  of  Tonal  Attributes,  American  Journal  of 
Psychology,  1919,  30,  pp.  121-164. 

"H.  T.  Watt,  The  Psychology  of  Sound,  1917,  pp.  41-53. 

"Ibid,  pp.  15-53. 

"Ibid,  p.  200. 


22  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

music  on  the  relationship  of  pitches.  The  variation  in  abso- 
lute pitch  of  musical  instruments  is  in  part  responsible  for  the 
defect.  Some  people  may  have  a  special  refinement  of  hearing, 
such  as  a  greater  delicacy  of  volumic  outline  and  especially 
of  predominance  than  others  have.  Or  a  highly  favored  audi- 
tory disposition  might  give  them  the  power  to  maintain  their 
absoluteness  of  ear  in  spite  of  the  universality  of  musical  rel- 
ativity. In  this  case  everyone  naturally  possesses  absolute 
ear,  and  later  loses  it,  or  loses  the  power  to  convert  it  into  ab- 
solute nomenclature.^"  Octave  errors  in  absolute  ear  are  the 
inevitable  results  of  the  relativity  which  the  octave  brings. 
Even  a  well-maintained  absolute  ear  is  in  part  subdued  to 
musical  relativity,  regarding  as  of  first  importance  the  placing 
of  the  pitch  in  the  octave,  and  of  minor  importance  accuracy 
in  specification  of  the  exact  octave. 

Myers  and  Valentine'^^  made  a  study  of  the  different  at- 
titudes which  different  people  assume  toward  tones.  They 
analyzed  four  possible  attitudes  (1)  the  intra-subjective  at- 
titude, which  involves  certain  physiological  sub-aspects  in 
which  the  observers  characterize  the  note  as  'strident'  or 
'piercing'  and  conative  subaspects  such  as  impulses  to  motion 
and  efforts  to  determine  meaning,  pitch  or  interval;  (2)  the 
objective  attitude,  in  which  the  observer  relates  the  sound  to 
some  standard  of  purity,  pitch,  etc.;  (3)  the  character  atti- 
tude in  which  the  observer  tends  to  personify  the  tones  heard ; 
and  (4)  the  association  attitude  including  musical  (fused)  as- 
sociations and  other  than  musical  (non-fused)  associations. 
Their  results  for  single  tones  are  as  follows : 

Intra-subjective  Objective  Character  Association 

Attitude  Attitude  Attitude  Attitude 

Highly  Musical                  28%  39%  15%  18% 

Observers 

Less  Musical                      22%  32%  13%  33% 
Observers 

The  attitude  which  an  individual  assumes  when  listening 
to  isolated  notes  will  affect  the  possibility  of  his  regarding 


'"E.  M.  von  Hornbostel  (Ueber  vergleichende  akustische  und  musik- 
psychologische  Untersuchungen,  Zeitschrift  fiir  Augewante  Psychologie, 
1910,  3,  pp.  465ff.)  states  that  children  can  be  trained  to  develop  ab- 
solute pitch  memories,  and  that  the  less  contact  they  have  had  with 
music,  the  better  this  training.  Parrots  and  starlings  have  been  ob- 
served to  reproduce  melodies  only  in  the  original  keys  in  which  they 
were  sung. 

"C.  S.  Meyers  and  C.  W.  Valentine,  Individual  Differences  in  Atti- 
tude toward  tones.    British  Journal  of  Psychology,  1914,  7,  pp.  68-111. 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  23 

tones  as  part  of  an  ordinal  series  with  absolute  points  of  ref- 
erence. These  results  show  that  the  highly  musical  observers 
are  more  apt  to  have  the  analytical  point  of  view  for  single 
tones  than  the  less  musical  observers. 

Summarizing  the  results  of  these  writers,  we  find  many 
points  of  similarity  and  of  difference.  The  reason  why  the 
ability  is  so  restricted  is  believed  according  to  Abraham  to 
depend  on  the  facts  (1)  that  absolute  pitch  forms  its  asso- 
ciations in  only  one  sense  realm,  the  auditory,  (2)  that  songs 
are  transposed  freely  from  one  key  to  another,  (3)  that  the 
standard  pitch  of  instruments  varies  greatly,  and  (4)  that  the 
use  of  the  tonic  sol  fa  system  emphasizes  the  side  of  relativity 
in  music.  Watt  also  stresses  this  last  factor  of  relativity  in 
musical  training. 

Various  characteristics  and  accompaniments  of  the  ability 
are:  (1)  the  middle  range  is  universally  regarded  as  the 
easiest  to  judge  and  gives  the  surest  judgments.  Baird  finds 
/  and  c  on  the  piano  most  frequently  judged  correctly  and  g 
and  c  on  the  organ.  (2)  Clang  tint  directly  affects  judgments. 
Arranging  the  instruments  in  order  of  ease  of  identification 
Baird  puts  the  piano  first,  then  the  organ,  the  flute,  the  clar- 
inet and  the  voice.  Von  Kries  places  tuning  forks  and  whis- 
tles after  the  voice.  (3)  Stumpf  found  that  the  speed  of  judg- 
ing time  varies  from  person  to  person  and  with  the  same  per- 
son from  one  clang  to  another.  Ruckmich's  student  adds  that 
speed  and  accuracy  vary  together.  (4)  Stumpf 's  errors  in 
identification  were  mostly  semitone  and  whole  tone  errors 
diminishing  gradually  in  number  as  their  size  increased.  No 
errors  of  the  fifth  or  sixth  occurred.  Baird's  errors  ranged 
from  a  semitone  to  two  octaves.  He  found  a  large  number  of 
octave  errors,  70  errors  of  a  sixth,  51  errors  of  a  fifth,  54  er- 
rors of  a  fourth,  and  80  errors  of  a  third.  Kohler  emphasizes 
the  predominance  of  errors  of  a  fifth,  a  fourth  and  an  octave 
amongst  observers  who  possess  genuine  absolute  pitch  mem- 
ory. (5)  Stumpf  found  that  errors  of  black  keys  were  due 
to  confusions  with  other  black  keys.  Baird's  results  contra-  * 
diet  this.  (6)  Abraham  suggests  that  poor  melody  memory  ) 
is  apt  to  accompany  memory  for  absolute  pitch. 

Chords  are  frequently  claimed  to  be  easier  to  identify  than 
single  notes.  One  of  Stumpf's  observers  could  name  single 
notes  correctly  but  not  chords,  one  could  name  chords  but  not 
single  notes.     Abraham's  results  led  him  to  feel  doubtful  of 


24  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

the  existence  of  absolute  key  consciousness  without  absolute 
tone  consciousness. 

Baird  found  the  ability  to  reproduce  given  notes  to  run 
fairly  parallel  with  the  ability  to  name  notes  heard.  Abraham 
thinks  the  two  abilities  need  not  necessarily  be  at  the  same 
level  of  development,  but  that  both  represent  the  same  gen- 
eral capacity. 

Many  possible  aids  in  making  absolute  pitch  judgments 
/  are  enumerated  by  Helmholtz  and  Abraham.    They  are  (1) 
J    feelings  of  tension  in  humming,  (2)  emotional  reaction,  (3) 
pain  sensations  caused  by  high  notes,  effects  of  the  character- 
I     istic  pitch  of  the  ear  drum  on  g*  and  on  notes  which  possess  g^ 
as  one  of  their  overtones,  and  (4)  the  quality  or  intensity  of 
tone  as  a  result  of  the  method  of  striking  the  black  and  white 
keys.    In  judging  keys  on  the  piano  the  effects  of  constant  er- 
rors in  tuning,  and  in  judging  keys  on  bowed  and  wind  instru- 
ments the  variation  in  intonation  of  the  fifths  might  serve  as 
secondary  criteria. 

The  essential  criteria  for  absolute  pitch  memories  vary 
from  writer  to  writer.  Writers  are  fairly  agreed  that  the 
muscular  accompaniment  cannot  be  wholly  responsible  for 
these  judgments.  Overtones  or  complexities  of  tone  are  re- 
jected by  Baird,  and  are  held  to  be  important  by  von  Kries  and 
Kohler,  who  explain  the  discrepancy  found  for  singing  tones 
as  due  to  the  influence  of  vowel  sounds  which  continually  shift 
the  register  of  the  voice,  and  also  by  Boggs,  who  believes  that 
they  lead  us  to  a  knowledge  of  the  extended  tonal  system, 
comparable  in  many  ways  to  the  spectal  series.  The  place  of 
frequency  and  of  practice  in  establishing  memory  for  pitch 
is  much  disputed.  Stumpf  finds  it  important,  provided  other 
criteria  are  present.  Von  Kries  thought  it  reduced  the  limits 
of  the  unrecognizable,  but  never  to  the  extent  of  converting 
an  indirect  judgment  into  a  direct  judgment.  In  Meyer's  ex- 
periments practice  developed  a  temporary  ability  which  soon 
was  lost  through  disuse.  Abraham  thinks  practice  may  be 
beneficial  with  some  people,  wholly  unnecessary  for  others  and 
quite  useless  for  still  others.  Baird  denies  that  any  evidence 
exists  that  training  will  originate  the  ability  if  it  is  not  to 
some  degree  present  already.  On  the  other  hand  Rupp  and 
Kohler  agree  that  repetition  will  produce  a  firm  lasting  im- 
pression which  according  to  Rupp  may  be  either  auditory  or 
kinaesthic. 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  25 

The  ultimate  basis  for  absolute  pitch  judgments  is  finally 
(1)  for  Stumpf  the  inexplicable  individual  coefficient,  (2) 
for  Abraham  either  exceptional  fineness  of  the  sensory  appa- 
ratus which  enables  an  individual  to  recognize  separate  tone 
qualities  in  their  finer  differences,  or  certain  unique  cerebral 
conditions,  (3)  for  Baird  a  discovery  of  the  distinctive  quality 
present  in  every  c,  in  every  d,  etc.,  and  (4)  for  Watt  the  attri- 
bute of  order  which  is  inseparable  from  every  auditory  sensa- 
tion. This  may  be  overshadowed  by  circumstances  and  is 
probably  preserved  either  by  an  individual's  greater  delicacy 
of  volumic  outline  or  by  a  more  highly  favored  auditory  dis- 
position. 


II 

OBSERVERS 

Observers  who  were  already  trained  to  some  degree  in  in- 
trospection were  selected  to  take  part  in  the  experiments. 
The  nine  members  of  an  advanced  laboratory  course  in  psy- 
chology and  two  instructors  in  the  department  formed  the 
first  group  of  observers  in  the  practice  series.  Group  2  was 
made  up  of  eighty  students,  members  at  that  time  of  the  re- 
quired introductory  course  in  psychology.  The  majority  of 
these  students  were  juniors,  a  small  number  were  sophomores 
and  seniors.  They  ranged  musically  from  a  few  who  excelled 
in  violin  or  piano  study  in  the  department  of  music  through 
varying  degrees  of  ability  to  a  few  who  had  had  no  training  of 
any  kind  or  interest  in  music.  Although  this  group,  totally 
unselected,  taken  from  a  required  course  at  the  college,  rep- 
resents as  widely  distributed  a  sampling  as  is  possible  in  a 
college  community,  it  has,  however,  already  been  subject  to 
much  selection  of  entrance  and  cannot  be  taken  as  represent- 
ing the  average  person.  The  training  in  analysis  and  intro- 
spection which  the  observers  were  obtaining  in  their  psycholo- 
gy course  was  believed  to  be  a  valuable  asset  for  this  study. 
Group  3  contained  three  selected  members,  a  junior  and  a 
sophomore  of  exceptional  ability  in  music,  who  possessed  an 
evident  degree  of  absolute  pitch  memory,  and  the  instructor 
in  Ear  Training  and  Harmony  classes  under  the  Department 
of  Music,  who  did  not  possess  memory  for  absolute  pitches. 
During  the  summer  tests  were  given  individually  to  observer 
Bd,  who  had  had  considerable  musical  and  psychological  train- 
ing. 


26 


Ill 


EXPERIMENTS 

The  members  of  Group  1  took  part  in  the  first  series  of 
practice  experiments.  The  method  of  conducting  these  tests 
was  as  follows:  The  observer  was  seated  with  her  back  to 
the  piano^,  facing  a  cardboard  piano  keyboard  which  bore  the 
symbols  for  the  different  octaves. 


^t,C^ 


The  experimenter  seated  at  the  piano  held  a  list^  of  the 
88  piano  notes  arranged  in  random  order  avoiding  octave 
sequences  and  any  sequence  less  than  two  octaves  apart.  The 
experimenter  gave  a  signal,  played  a  note  mediumly  loud  and 
with  a  stop  watch  noted  the  time  necessary  for  the  observer 
to  respond  aloud  with  the  name  of  the  note.  The  note  was  re- 
peated as  often  as  the  observer  wished  to  hear  it.  As  soon  as 
the  response  and  the  time  were  recorded  by  the  experimenter, 
the  next  note  was  sounded,  continuing  in  this  way  until  all  88 
notes  were  given.  A  sitting  lasted  from  about  twenty  minutes 
to  forty  minutes  according  to  the  speed  of  the  observer. 

Each  of  the  ten  members  of  Group  1  was  given  an  individ- 
ual preliminary  trial  with  instructions  only  in  regard  to  the 
distinctive  symbols  for  each  note.  The  notes  were  to  be  defi- 
nitely located  within  their  proper  octaves.  Before  this  trial 
the  observers  were  allowed  to  play  a  few  moments  on  the  pi- 
ano in  order  to  gain  a  general  idea  of  the  quality  of  its  tone. 
At  the  close  of  this  first  sitting  the  group  was  divided  into  two 
sections. 

Test  I  Six  of  its  members  were  instructed  to  practice  the 
entire  keyboard,  using  this  piano  always,  for  about  forty  min- 
,u|;es  a  week,  in  four  ten  minute  periods,  if  possible,  and  to  at- 


*A  new  upright  Knabe  piano  tuned  relatively  high  (a*  =  about  445  v. 
d.)  was  used  in  all  the  different  series  of  tests  unless  otherwise  speci- 
fied. The  piano  was  located  in  a  music  practice  room  containing  no 
hangings  to  soften  its  exceptionally  clear  resonant  tone.  During  the 
year  it  was  used  only  by  the  observers  in  these  tests,  and  was  tuned 
at  frequent  intervals. 

'About  fifteen  of  these  lists  were  compiled  during  the  course  of  the 
experiment. 

27 


28  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

tempt  to  devise  some  method  by  which  they  might  be  able  to 
retai.a  the  pitches  of  the  different  notes.  Memory  for  absolute 
pitch  without  reference  to  any  secondary  criteria  was  to  be-the 
goal,  but  any  method  might  be  used  to  reach  this.  Tests  fol- 
lowed weekly  the  periods  of  practice  throughout  the  greater 
part  of  the  college  year,  1917-1918,  with  some  slight  irreg- 
ularities. At  the  end  of  each  sitting  introspections  were  writ- 
ten by  the  observer,  especially  regarding  the  method  attempt- 
ed in  practice  and  its  usability  in  the  test.  After  a  few  weeks 
the  writer  acted  as  experimenter  for  all  the  other  observers 
throughout  the  remainder  of  the  investigation.  Each  of  the 
other  observers  was  at  some  time  experimenter  when  the 
writer  was  observer.  This  brought  about  a  fair  uniformity 
of  general  procedure.  The  experimenter  attempted  always 
to  employ  a  constant  method  of  striking  the  notes  producing 
equal  degrees  of  intensity  for  the  full  range  of  notes.  The 
duration  of  the  notes  differed  for  the  different  observers. 
Some  asked  for  a  number  of  quick  repetitions,  others  prefer- 
red to  have  the  tone  ring  out  without  interruption.  If  the 
response  was  immediate  the  sound  was  at  once  stopped;  if 
there  was  hesitation,  it  was  continued  until  the  note  was 
named. 

Test  II  Four  members  of  Group  1  undertook  a  somewhat 
different  procedure.  Instead  of  attempting  to  familiarize 
themselves  with  the  entire  keyboard  at  once,  they  began  with 
a  single  octave,  the  once  accented  octave,  and  increased  the 
range  gradually,  adding  first  the  next  higher  octave,  then  the 
next  lower  octave  after  practicing  for  two  weeks  before  each 
new  addition.  The  presentation  order  of  notes  used  by  the  ex- 
perimenter was  as  varied  as  was  possible,  but  at  first,  when  the 
range  was  small,  it  was  necessary  to  have  an  interval  of  fifteen 
seconds  betweeen  the  notes  during  which  time  the  observer's 
attention  to  the  previous  note  was  distracted  by  unharmonious 
chord  combinations  extending  over  a  wide  range.  Aside  from 
this  difference  test  II  was  conducted  in  the  same  manner  as 
test  I.  This  test  continued  through  a  part  of  the  academic 
year  1917-1918. 

Test  III  At  the  same  time  a  test  was  begun  in  which  the  31 
notes  on  the  violin,  from  a\)  to  d^  were  used  instead  of  the  88 
piano  notes.  One  observer  from  Group  1  carried  this  through 
as  a  practice  experiment  for  half  the  year,  then  later  joined 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  29 

the  group  in  test  I.  The  method  of  procedure  was  identical 
with  that  of  test  I.  Another  member  of  Group  1,  an  excellent 
violin  student,  produced  the  violin  notes  in  the  earlier  tests 
and  at  first  during  the  practice  periods.  Later  the  writer 
was  the  experimenter  and  the  observer  practiced  herself  on 
the  violin. 

Test  IV  During  the  middle  of  the  year  all  the  members  of 
Group  1  were  similarly  tested  once  on  the  pipe-organ.  Four 
stops  were  used:  the  flute,  the  diapason  and  the  viola  stops 
with  60  notes  each,  and  the  oboe  stop  with  42  notes. 

Test  V  At  the  close  of  the  practice  series  with  Group  1, 
nine  of  these  observers  attempted  to  reproduce  the  pitch  of 
c^  and  a^  singing  into  a  Seashore  tonoscope.  Three  trials  were 
made  for  each  note  at  wide  intervals  apart.  The  subject  was 
instructed  not  to  'feel  around'  audibly  with  her  voice  to  reach 
the  pitch,  as  for  example,  to  sing  the  extremes  of  her  vocal 
range  and  estimate  the  pitch  by  that  means.  She  was  to  sing 
directly  with  but  slight  modifications  the  pitch  which  she  be- 
lieved to  be  approximately  c^  or  a\  All  of  the  subjects  had 
had  opportunity  during  the  year  to  use  the  tonoscope,  which 
had  been  adapted  by  Professor  D.  C.  Rogers  for  the  high  pitch- 
es of  women's  voices,  and  gave  readily  clear  readings  for  these 
pitches. 

Test  VI  (sl)  This  test  extended  through  the  period  follow- 
ing the  spring  vacation  to  the  end  of  the  college  year.  The 
eighty  members  of  Group  2  were  observers  in  this  practice 
series.  It  was  necessary  that  the  procedure  differ  somewhat 
with  so  large  a  number  of  observers,  hence  the  experiment 
was  adapted  for  a  group  test  in  which  about  twenty  observers 
could  take  part  at  one  time.  They  sat  with  their  backs  to  the 
piano  facing  the  card  keyboard  and  kept  themselves  a  written 
record  of  their  88  responses.  They  were  asked  to  attempt  to 
place  the  note  as  near  as  possible  to  its  actual  position  in  every 
(?ase. 

The  experimenter  (the  writer)  presented  the  notes  at 
fixed  intervals,  one  every  twenty  seconds,^  sounding  each  sev- 
eral times  during  the  first  10  seconds,  then  pausing  10  seconds 
before  striking  the  note.  This  made  a  trial  last  exactly  28 
minutes.    At  the  end  the  observers  wrote  introspections  re- 


'This  interval  seemed  to  be  a  fair  average  judging  from  the  results  of 
Group  1,  which  was  allowed  unlimited  time. 


30  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

garding  the  various  mental  processes  involved  in  the  judg- 
ments. These  were  read  each  week  and  criticized  from  the 
point  of  view  of  accurate  psychological  analysis. 

The  observers  were  given  two  preliminary  trials  without 
practice  and  six  other  trials  at  intervals  of  a  week  apart,  fol- 
lowing two  ten  minute  periods  of  practice.  The  same  Knabe 
piano  was  used  both  for  the  weekly  practice  and  the  group  sit- 
tings. The  correct  notes,  the  semitone  errors  and  the  octave 
errors  were  designated  in  red  after  each  trial  to  serve  as  an  in- 
dex to  the  observer  of  her  achievement.  Suggestions  as  to  ad- 
visable methods  of  practice,  based  on  results  from  Group  1, 
were  made  to  this  group.  Further  each  observer  was  assigned 
a  certain  note*  with  which  she  was  to  make  special  efforts  to 
become  familiar.  It  was  recommended  that  she  think  of  her 
own  note  in  a  definite  setting  as  belonging  to  a  certain  chord 
or  scale,  or  possibly  as  the  beginning  note  in  some  piece.  They 
were  to  acquaint  themselves  with  the  general  range  of  the  pi- 
ano and  the  tone-quality  of  each  octave,  and  endeavor  in  some 
way  to  fix  the  individual  notes  in  their  memories,  so  that  tak- 
ing notes  at  random  they  could  assign  to  them  names  with 
some  degree  of  accuracy. 

At  the  close  of  the  practice  series  the  following  question- 
naire was  given  to  the  observers  from  Groups  1  and  2 : 

MEMORY  FOR  PITCH. 
Training. 

If  you  were  to  be  graded  on  a  scale  of  ten,  where  would  you 
place  yourself  for  (1)  musical  ability,  (2)  musical  apprecia- 
tion? 

What  instruments  have  you  studied,  and  how  long? 

What  vocal  training  have  you  had? 

Have  you  taken  ear  training  or  harmony  courses? 

Have  you  a  good,  fair  or  poor  memory  for  music? 

What  was  your  threshold  for  pitch  discrimination?' 

Are  other  members,  of  your  family  musical  or  unmusical  ? 
Type  of  Imagery.^ 


*The  observers'  names  were  arranged  alphabetically  according  to  class, 
and  the  notes  were  distributed  to  them  in  order  from  A'  to  fP. 

'The  pitch  discrimination  of  a  large  number  of  the  observers  had  been 
obtained  at  a  class  test  earlier  in  the  year. 

'Adapted  from  Seashore's  tests  for  imagery.  Elementary  Experiments 
m  Psychology,  1908,  pp.  107-110. 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  31 

Answer  the  following  questions  by  writing  after  the 
question  the  number  which  denotes  the  degree  of  vividness 
characteristic  of  your  image.  Follow  the  order :  I  1,  II  1,  III 
1,  I  2,  II  2,  III  2,  etc.  Compute  the  averages  for  each  type  of 
imagery. 

Degrees  of  Vividness. 

0.  No  image  at  all. 

1.  Very  faint. 

2.  Faint. 

3.  Fairly  vivid. 

4.  Vivid. 

5.  Very  vivid. 

6.  As  vivid  as  in  perception. 

I.  Visual. 

1.  Can  you  imagine  the  color  of  (a)  a  red  rose?  (b)  a 
green  leaf?     (c)  a  yellow  ribbon?     (d)  a  blue  sky? 

2.  Can  you  imagine  the  brightness  of  (a)  a  white  teacup? 

(b)  a  black  crow?     (c)  a  gray  stone?     (d)  the  blade 
of  a  knife? 

3.  Can  you  image  the  form  of  (a)  the  rose?     (b)  the  leaf? 

(c)  the  teacup?     (d)  the  knife? 

4.  Can  you  form  a  visual  image  of  (a)  a  moving  express 
train?  (b)  your  sharpening  of  a  pencil?  (c)  an  up 
and  down  movement  of  your  tongue? 

5.  Can  you  image  simultaneously  (a)  a  group  of  colors  in 
a  bunch  of  sweet  peas?  (b)  Colors,  forms,  brightnesses 
and  movements  in  a  landscape  view? 

6.  Can  you  compare  in  a  visual  image  (a)  the  color  of 
cream  and  the  color  of  milk?  (b)  the  tint  of  one  of 
your  finger-nails  with  that  of  the  palm  of  your  hand? 

7.  Can  you  hold  fairly  constant  for  ten  seconds  (a)  the 
color  of  the  rose?    (b)  the  form  of  the  rose? 

II.  Auditory. 

"  ^  1.  Can  you  image  the  sound  of  (a)  the  report  of  a  gun? 
(b)  the  clinking  of  glasses?  (c)  the  ringing  of  church 
bells?     (d)  the  hum  of  bees? 

2.  Can  you  image  the  characteristic  tone-quality  of  (a) 
a  violin?  (b)  a  cello?  (c)  a  flute?  (d)  a  cornet? 
(e)  an  organ?     (f)  an  orchestra? 

3.  Can  you  repeat  in  auditory  imagery  the  air  of  (a)  the 
Star  Spangled  Banner?     (b)  the  Marseillaise? 


32  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

4.  Can  you  form  auditory  images  of  the  intensity  of  a 
violin-tone  (a)  very  strong?  (b)  strong?  (c)  weak? 
(d)  very  weak? 

5.  Can  you  form  auditory  imagery  of  the  rhythm  (a)  of 
men's  marching  to  the  beat  of  a  drum?  (b)  "Dixie" 
or  other  air  played?  (c)  "Tell  me  not  in  mournful  num- 
bers" spoken  by  yourself? 

6.  Can  you  form  auditory  images  of  (a)  low  tones  on  the 
piano,  high  tones,  those  in  the  middle  range?  (b) 
your  own  note  on  the  piano?    (c)  middle  c? 

III.  Motor. 

1.  Can  you  imagine,  in  motor  terms,  yourself  (a)  rocking 
in  a  chair?  (b)  Walking  down  a  stairway?  (c)  Biting 
a  lump  of  sugar?  (d)  Clenching  your  fist?  (c)  Danc- 
ing? 

2.  Does  motor  imagery  arise  in  your  mind  when  you  recall 

(a)  cutting  cloth  with  a  large  pair  of  scissors?  (b) 
a  facial  expression  of  fear?  (c)  two  boys  on  a  teeter- 
board  ? 

3.  Aside  from  the  actual  inceptive  movements,  do  you  get 
motor  imagery  when  recalling  (a)  a  very  high  tone? 

(b)  a  very  low  tone?  (c)  middle  c?  (d)  words  like 
"Paderewski,"  "bubble,"  "tete  a  tete?" 

4.  Can  you  form  a  motor  image  of  (a)  the  weight  of  a 
pound  of  butter?     (b)  your  speed  in  running  a  race? 

(c)  the  motion  of  a  boat?  (d)  being  swung  around 
rapidly  in  a  chair  or  in  a  swing? 

Method. 
/       On  hearing  the  note  did  you  try  to  recognize  the  octave 
/    first,  then  the  note,  or  did  you  try  to  name  the  note  first, 
y    then  place  it  in  an  octave,  or  were  the  two  simultaneous? 
In  all  cases? 

Did  the  note  to  be  judged  seem  to  have  a  setting  in  an 
imagined  chord,  scale  or  keyboard?  If  so,  did  you  think 
of  the  chord,  scale  or  keyboard  in  visual,  auditory,  kin- 
aesthetic  or  any  other  terms? 

Did  recognition  ever  come  instantly,  without  interven- 
ing images  or  associations? 

To  what  extent  were  you  conscious  of  overtones? 
Did  you  notice  perseveration  of  preceding  tones?    Did 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  33 

you  judge  the  pitch  of  one  tone  in  reference  to  the  pitch  of 
the  preceding  tone? 

Did  you  notice  a  difference  in  quality  between  the  sound 
of  a  note  immediately  after  it  had  been  struck  and  after  it 
had  sounded  a  while?  Did  you  prefer  to  judge  at  the  in- 
itial sound  of  the  note  or  after*  it  had  been  sounded  a  few 
moments  ? 

Explain  fully  what  meaning  c  has  for  you.  Do  you 
think  of  it  as  having  distinctive  quality,  coloring,  setting, 
emotional  value,  or  relation  to  other  notes?  Go  through 
each  of  the  twelve  notes  in  this  way:  (c,  c^,  d,  d#,  e,  f, 
/#»  9,  9^>  ci,  ctj;,  b.    How  is  c^  related  introspectively  to  c^? 

What  sort  of  associative  devices  did  you  attempt? 

Name  some  of  the  interferences  which  prevented  the 
formation  of  these  new  associations,  and  some  of  the  facil- 
itations which  aided  their  formation. 

Did  you  feel  special  confidence  in  judging  any  tone  or 
tones?    Which  ones?    Did  your  practice  aid  in  this? 

By  what  method  do  you  think  you  reached  the  best  re- 
sults? 

What  part  of  the  keyboard  did  you  find  hardest?  Which 
easiest?    Why? 

How  would  you  criticise  the  length  of  interval  or  the 
manner  of  striking  the  notes  in  your  own  case? 

Did  you  find  the  first,  second  or  last  third  of  the  judg- 
ments in  one  sitting  easier  or  harder  than  the  others? 
Why? 

Did  you  find  the  experiment  interesting,  indiflferent 
or  uninteresting? 

(b)  One  year  after  the  close  of  the  practice  series  in  which 
Groups  1  and  2  took  part,  twenty  observers  from  Group  2 
selected  on  the  basis  of  availability  and  two  observers  from 
Group  1  were  given  similar  tests  as  before.  The  members  of 
Group  2  were  given  the  group  test  and  the  members  of  Group 
I'jWere  tested  individually  with  unlimited  time  for  response. 
Introspections  regarding  the  judging  process  were  again  writ- 
ten after  the  identifications  were  made. 

(c)  This  same  year  Group  3,  consisting  of  three  especially 
selected  music  students,  undertook  a  practice  series  similar 
to  that  of  Group  2,  in  which  the  time  for  presentation  and 
response  was  limited  to  twenty  seconds.  A  concert  grand 
piano  located  in  the  office  of  a  member  of  the  musical  depart- 


34  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

ment  was  used  for  these  trials.  Introspections  were  recorded 
at  the  end  of  each  sitting  and  the  questionnaire  was  filled  out 
at  the  close  of  the  practice  series. 

Test  VII  The  ability  to  recognize  the  fundamentals  of 
tonic  chords  evenly  struck  in  the  twelve  different  keys  between 
c^  and  c^  and  the  improvement  in  this  ability  by  practice  was 
investigated  during  the  summer  of  1918.'^  Two  observers 
(a  new  observer,  B,  who  possesses  marked  musical  ability 
and  observer  G,  who  had  taken  part  in  the  tests 
of  Group  1)  carried  this  on  as  a  practice  experiment.  Each  of 
the  twelve  chords  was  presented  twice  at  a  sitting,  all  twenty- 
four  being  arranged  at  relatively  wide  tonal  intervals  apart 
and  given  after  pauses  of  a  minute,  in  order  to  eliminate  as 
fas  as  possible  relative  judgments.  During  the  following 
winter  one  of  the  music  students  from  Group  3  did  the  experi- 
ment as  a  single  test  in  identification  following  the  same  pro- 
cedure as  was  used  for  the  previous  series.  Introspections 
were  recorded  during  the  practice  tests. 

Test  VIII  Since  the  psychological  laboratory  at  Smith 
College  had  at  this  time  ready  for  use  a  set  of  instruments  for 
detecting  slight  movements  during  the  thinking  process^  it 
seemed  worth  while  to  apply  these  instruments  to  the  field  of 
pitch  judgments.  Consequently  while  two  observers,  members 
of  Group  1,  judged  the  pitch  of  31  violin  notes  selected  at  ran- 
dom and  played  at  uniform  intervals  of  fifteen  seconds,  kymo- 
graph records  were  made  of  thoracic  breathing,  horizontal 
movements  of  the  throat,  tongue  movements  and  the  move- 
ments and  changes  in  volume  of  the  left  arm,''  Both  observers 
were  familiar  with  the  quality  of  sound  and  the  technique  of 
the  violin  and  with  the  rather  elaborate  apparatus  necessary 
for  taking  these  records. 

Test  IX  Professor  Seashore  suggested  to  the  writer  that 
an  accurate  test  for  detecting  genuine  absolute  pitch  memory 
would  consist  in  presenting  the  observer  with  a  tuning  fork 
early  in  the  morning  before  he  had  heard  any  music  which 
might  set  up  a  temporary  relative  "set"  and  ask  him  to  judge 


'For  these  experiments  a  relatively  new  baby  grand  piano  was  used. 

*See  R.  S.  Clark,  An  Experimental  Study  in  Silent  Thinking,  Archives 
of  Psychology,  No.  48,  1922. 

'About  two  yards  of  smoked  paper  was  stretched  from  a  roller  over 
a  very  slowly  rotating  kymograph  drum,  so  that  it  was  possible  to  pro- 
ceed without  break  through  the  test  which  lasted  nearly  eight  minutes. 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  35 

its  pitch.  Smaller  differences  than  musical  semitone  intervals 
ought  to  be  judged  accurately  if  the  observer's  memory  is 
strictly  a  memory  for  absolute  pitch.  A  set  of  tuning  forks 
containing  the  standard  fork  of  435  v.  d.  and  the  ten  increment 
forks  0.5,  1,  2,  3,  5,  8,  12,  17,  23  and  30  vibrations  higher  than 
the  standard  furnished  the  material  for  the  test.  Each  morn- 
ing for  66  fairly  consecutive  mornings,  as  far  as  was  possible 
in  suburban  surroundings  before  hearing  any  musical  sounds, 
observer  G  from  Group  1  was  given  one  of  the  eleven  tuning 
forks,  to  sound  as  often  and  as  long  as  was  desired,  and  to 
pass  judgment  in  regard  to  which  of  the  eleven  forks  it  might 
be.  Each  fork  was  presented  six  times  in  random  order  dur- 
ing the  experiment.  The  observer  was  already  familiar  with 
the  sound  and  range  of  the  tuning  forks  and  after  each  daily 
identification  sounded  all  the  various  forks  and  listened  care- 
fully to  their  tones.  The  results  of  the  test  were  not  made 
known  to  the  observer  until  the  close  of  the  experiment. 


IV 

DATA  AND  DISCUSSION 

Since  many  of  the  investigations  of  this  kind  had  begun 
their  study  of  memory  for  tones  by  using  first  a  small  num- 
ber of  notes  and  gradually  increasing  the  number,  it  seemed 
advisable  to  include  this  method  as  well  as  one  by  which  the  en- 
tire keyboard  is  attempted  at  each  trial.  After  continuing  the 
two  methods  in  Group  1  for  several  months  the  piecemeal 
method  was  abandoned  for  these  reasons.  It  was  less  interest- 
ing to  the  observers  and  called  torth  less  responsiveness  from 
them.  The  narrow  range  allowed  little  opportunity  for  variety 
in  forming  chord  combinations  in  practice  and  for  testing  oc- 
tave similarities  and  differences.  This  method  also  complicated 
the  procedure  of  the  tests  somewhat.  The  different  notes  could 
not  be  presented  at  relatively  short  time  intervals  without  dis- 
tractions, for  relative  pitch  operated  too  readily  within  the 
narrow  limits.  It  made  the  interpretation  of  results  a  more 
complex  affair  which  was  disadvantageous  in  an  experiment 
with  a  large  group.  Therefore  when  weekly  tests  on  eighty 
observers  were  undertaken,  simplicity  in  procedure  became 
essential. 

1.  Tables,  graphs  and  correlations  for  the  experiments 
using  the  88  notes  of  the  piano. 

TABLE  r 
Showing  the  Frequency-Distribution  of  Errors  measured  in  Semi- 
tones and  averaged  from  the  Total  Number  of  Trials  of  Groups  1,  2 
and  3  (92  Observers). 


Average  Error 

Number  of 

Average  Error 

Number  of 

Per  Note  in 

Observers 

Per  Note  in 

Observers 

Semitones 

Semitones 

0 

0 

3.97 

20 

0.56 

0 

4.54 

18 

1.13 

1 

5.11 

22 

1.70 

1 

5.68 

11 

2.27 

1 

6.25 

6 

2.84 

4 

6.81 

0 

3.40 

7 

7.38 

1 

a.  Average  error  frequency  The  results  given  in  Table  I 
show  that  the  errors  of  the  observers  from  Groups  1,  2  and  3 
approximate  a  normal  curve  of  distribution.  (See  Figure  1, 
page  57)  No  sharp  break  occurs  between  any  two  divisions 
although  the  observers  range  from  those  who  claim  to  be  tone- 


^Tables  I  through  XII  and  the  corresponding  Figures  1  through  8  are 
based  on  the  results  from  the  tests  using  the  88  notes  of  the  piano  for 
identification. 

36 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  37 

deaf  and  those  who  had  practically  no  musical  education, 
through  all  stages  including  the  unmusical  who  have  received 
good  training  and  the  musically  inclined  who  have  had  little 
training,  to  the  especially  promising  students  of  music.  The 
average  error  for  the  various  members  of  these  groups  is  less 
than  an  interval  of  a  perfect  fourth  per  note,  for  the  poorest 
observer  is  a  little  over  a  minor  sixth  and  for  the  best  observer 
slightly  over  a  semitone.  Evidently  the  ability  to  identify 
notes  is  not  an  all-or-none  trait,  but  may  be  found  in  all  grades 
of  accuracy.  Even  the  least  successful  observers  are  able  to 
assign  positions  to  notes  within  certain  relatively  narrow  lim- 
its. 

TABLE  II 

Showing  the  Frequency-Distribution  of  Errors,  measured   in   Semi- 
tones, from  the  First  Trials  of  Groups  1,  2  and  3.     (88  observers) 
Average  Error  Number  of          Average  Error          Number  of 
Per  Note  in  Observers           Per  Note  in              Observers 
Semitones  Semitones 

0.56  0                            4.54                                8 

1.13  0                           5.11                              22' 

1.70  0                           5.68                              18 

2.27  2                           6.25                              12 

2.84  0                           6.81                                7 

3.40  5                           7.38                               4 

3.97  7                          7.95                              3 

b.  Error  frequencies  for  the  first  and  the  last  trials  The 
curve  showing  the  frequency  of  errors  for  the  first  trial  (See 
Figure  2,  page  58)  assumes  also  the  general  form  of  the  prob- 
ability curve.  After  a  period  of  practice  the  distribution 
remains  approximately  the  same,  although  the  central  point 
has  moved  about  100  semitones  nearer  the  line  of  no  errors. 
(See  also  Tables  II  and  III) 

The  improvement  per  person,  however,  was  not  as  uniform 
as  this  graph  might  indicate,  for  using  the  Pearson  formula 

TABLE  III 

,  'i^howing  the  Frequency-Distribution  of  Errors,  measured  in  Semi- 

tohes,  from  the  last  Trial  of  the  Practice  Series  of  Groups  1,  2  and  3. 

(88  observers) 

Average  Error  Number  of  Average  Error  Number  of 

Per  Note  in  Observers  Per  Note  in  Observers 

Semitones  Semitones 

0  1  3.97  21 

0.56  0  4.64  12 

1.13  1  5.11  12 

1.70  2  5.68  9 

2.27  6  6.25  2 

2.84  10  6.81  1 

3.40  11  7.38  0 


38  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

for  the  coeflficient  of  correlation^  to  obtain  the  degree  of  rela- 
tionship between  initial  and  final  trials  in  the  practice  series 
as  measured  by  the  size  of  the  error,  it  is  found  that  in  Groups 
2  and  3,  r  =  +.439  p.  e.  .06,  and  in  Group  1,  r  =  —.182  p.  e. 
.219.  Certain  individuals  improved  rapidly  after  a  poor  begin- 
ning, others  who  did  better  in  their  first  performance  gained 
slowly  in  comparison.  This  is  most  marked  in  Group  1.  An 
important  reason  for  the  difference  in  the  correlation  of 
Groups  2  and  3  and  that  of  Group  1  lif«  in  the  fact  that  the 
period  of  practice  varied  greatly  among  the  observers  in  this 
latter  group,  some  continuing  this  special  form  of  the  experi- 
ment for  only  six  trials,  others  for  fifteen  to  twenty-four  trials. 
The  longer  the  periods  of  practice  the  more  chance  for  accent- 
uating the  factors  of  individual  difference.  Also  those  who 
began  at  a  high  level  of  ability  had  less  chance  for  conspicuous 
improvement  than  the  less  able  ones. 

c.  Average  frequency  for  correct  notes  Greater  devia- 
tion from  the  normal  curve  of  distribution  is  shown  in  Table 
IV,  Figure  3,  based  on  individual  records  for  correct  notes, 
than  in  the  curve  for  error  distribution.  The  curve  is  skewed 
toward  the  side  of  little  ability  and  is  very  irregular  at  the 
opposite  side.  On  the  whole  the  observers  in  Group  1  whose 
practice  extended  over  longer  periods  average  much  better 
than  the  observers  in  Group  2  whose  practice  lasted  six  weeks. 
The  relationship  between  the  average  number  of  correct  notes 
and  accuracy  as  measured  by  the  size  of  the  average  error 
proved  to  be  r  =  +.602  p.e.  .047  for  Groups  2  and  3,  and 
r=:  +  .895  p.  e.  .044  for  Group  1.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
the  tests  as  given  to  Groups  2  and  3  were  in  the  form  of  group 
tests  with  a  definite  time  limit  for  response.  The  observers  in 
Group  1,  on  the  contrary,  were  tested  individually  and  given 
unlimited  time  for  response.  This  factor  together  with  the 
variation  in  length  of  the  practice  series  would  tend  to  produce 
a  greater  degree  of  correspondence  between  the  general  cor- 
rectness of  response  as  measured  negatively  by  the  size  of  the 


*The  following  formulae  for  the  Pearson  coefficient  of  correlation  and 
the  probable  error  were  used  in  all  the  correlations  which  follow : 

2  (x'y')     —    n   ■  Errofx     Errory 


n  (IJ^  -  Error.^  )  ^    (^  -  Error.^) 

P.E.  =  .6745  ?^ 
ni 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  39 

TABLE  IV 

Showing    the    Frequency-Distribution    of    Correct    Notes    averaged 
from  the  Total  Number  of  Trials  of  Groups  1,  2  and  3.  (90  observers) 


Average 

Number  of  Observers 

^mnliPT   n*? 

Correct  Notes 

Group 

1 

Group  2 

Group  3 

(Unlimited  Time) 

(Limited  Time) 

(Limited  Time) 

3 

1 

4 

1 

5 

10 

6 

17 

7 

16 

8 

10 

9 

9 

10 

1 

6 

11 

4 

3 

12 

2 

13 

1 

' 

14 

1 

15 

1 

1 

1 

17 

1 

21 

1 

23 

1 

40 

1 

72 

1 

Total  9  78  3 

errors  and  positively  by  the  number  of  correct  notes.  Since 
this  high  correlation  is  found  between  the  two  methods  of 
grading,  it  makes  it  possible  to  use  either  of  the  two  more  or 
less  interchangeably  as  a  basis  for  estimating  an  individual's 
record. 

d.  Frequencies  of  correct  notes  in  the  first  and  the  last 
trials  The  Frequency-Distribution  of  correct  notes  in  the 
first  trial  is  also  skewed  toward  the  poorer  extreme.  (See 
Figure  4,  Tables  V  and  VI.)  Practice  draws  the  entire  curve 
over  a  little  to  the  opposite  side  but  does  not  change  its  origi- 
nal form.  It  seems  even  to  accentuate  individual  differences 
by  increasing  the  number  of  fluctuations  in  the  curve  for  the 
fa^t  trial.  This  is  in  contrast  to  the  fairly  normal  curve 
of  distribution  found  in  the  curves  of  average  error.  This 
greater  variety  on  the  side  of  the  curve  representing  greater 
achievement  may  perhaps  be  explained  as  the  result  of  the  ad- 
vantages in  general  education  and  musical  training  which  the 
observers  in  these  tests  have  had. 


40 


THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 


TABLE  V 

Showing  the  Distribution  of  Correct  Notes  in 

the  First  Trial  of  the 

Practice  Series  of  Groups  1,  2  and  3. 

(90  observers) 

Number  of 

Number 

Number 

of 

Number 

Correct  Notes 

or 

Correct  Notes 

or 

in  First  Trial 

Observers 

in  First  Trial 

Observers 

1 

1 

10 

3 

2 

3 

11 

6 

3 

7 

12 

3 

4 

9 

13 

2 

5 

14 

14 

1 

6 

13 

16 

1 

7 

9 

18 

1    ' 

8 

13 

63 

1 

9 

3 

Although  the  members  of  Groups  1  and  2  represent  as  wide 
a  sampling  as  is  possible  in  a  college  community,  it  is  however 
true  that  that  community  is  already  narrowly  selective. 

Improvement  in  naming  correctly  the  individual  notes  is 
steady  in  the  group  as  a  whole  and  alters  but  little  the  form  of 
the  curve,  but  individual  improvement  is  at  times  somewhat 
uneven.  The  correlation  between  the  number  of  correct  notes 
per  individual  in  the  first  and  in  the  last  trials  for  Groups  2 


TABLE  VI 

Showing  the  Distribution  of  Correct  Notes  in  the  Last  Trial  of  the 

Practice  Series  of  Groups  1,  2  and  3 

.  (90  observers) 

Number  of 

Number  of 

Number  of 

Number  of 

Number  of  Number  of 

Correct 

Observers 

Correct 

Observers 

Correct       Observers 

Notes  in 

Notes  in 

Notes  in 

Last  Trial 

Last  Trial 

Last  Trial 

3 

1 

11 

8 

20                  1 

4 

2 

12 

5 

21                 1 

5 

6 

13 

2 

22                   1 

6 

7 

14 

2 

24                  1 

7 

12 

15 

2 

25                  1 

8 

12 

16 

4 

36                  1 

9 

11 

18 

2 

44                  1 

10 

5 

19 

1 

83                  1 

and  3  is:  r  =  +.845  p.  e.  .031  and  for  Group  1:  r  =  +.516 
p.  e.  .266.  On  the  whole  those  who  begin  well  are  apt  to  be  the 
ones  to  finish  well,  especially  when  the  practice  periods  are  of 
equal  length.  Where  the  length  of  the  practice  series  varies 
greatly  as  occurred  in  Group  1,  the  record  for  the  first  trial 
cannot  be  taken  as  an  accurate  gauge  of  the  results  of  different 
individuals  after  unequal  intervals  of  practice. 

e.  Frequency  of  interval  errors  It  was  of  great  interest 
to  find  the  relative  frequency  of  the  different  interval  errors 
taken  from  over  700  tests  in  which  the  88  notes  of  the  piano 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  41 

were  used.  (See  Figure  5,  Table  VIII)  Underestimations  of 
pitch  are  fairly  consistently  less  than  overestimations.  The 
largest  number  of  misjudgments  were  only  a  semitone  too  high 
or  too  low.    The  next  lower  frequency  was  found  for  the  whole. 


TABLE    VII 

Showing  the  Total  Frequency  of  Interval  Errors  up 

to  Two  Octaves 

fbtained  from  all  Records  (89  Observers). 

Size  of  -f- 

Total 

Size  of  — 

Total 

Interval  Errors 

Frequency 

Interval  Errors 

Frequency 

No  Error 

7621 

Minor  2nd 

5821 

Minor  2nd 

4462 

Major  2nd 

4354 

Major  2nd 

3488 

Minor  3rd 

3357 

Minor  3rd 

2869 

Major  3rd 

2866 

Major  3rd 

2387 

Perfect  4th 

2564 

Perfect  4th 

1869 

Augmented  4th 

2063 

Augmented  4th 

1595 

Perfect  5th 

1824 

Perfect  5th 

1381 

Minor  6th 

1470 

Minor  6th 

1094 

Major  6th 

1305 

Major  6th 

904 

Minor  7th 

1078 

Minor  7th 

797 

Major  7th 

983 

Major  7th 

763 

Perfect  8th 

917 

Perfect  8th 

692 

Minor  9th 

793 

Minor  9th 

368 

Major  9th 

489 

Major  9th 

285 

Minor   10th 

345 

Minor  10th 

213 

Major  10th 

283 

Major  10th 

177 

Perfect  11th 

204 

Perfect  11th 

113 

Augmented  11th 

123 

Augmented  11th 

90 

Perfect  12th 

110 

Perfect  12th 

67 

Minor  13th 

68 

Minor  13th 

71 

Major  13th 

54 

Major  13th 

38 

Minor  14th 

38 

Minor  14th 

29 

Major    14th 

35 

Major  14th 

30 

2  Octaves 

24 

2  Octaves 

13 

tone,  then  the  minor  third,  the  major  third  and  so  on  down 
step  by  step.  The  larger  the  interval  error  the  less  frequently 
it  occurred.  Instead  of  a  distinct  rise  in  frequency  for  octave 
errors  the  curve  continues  downward,  a  little  more  slowly  at 
that  point  than  a  few  intervals  before  or  a  few  intervals  after- 
ward. In  the  records  of  31  observers  out  of  89,  the  frequency 
foi^  the  positive  octave  error  rises  one  point  or  more  above  the 
frequency  for  the  error  of  the  major  7th  interval.  In  only 
nine  cases  is  this  rise  conspicuous  and  in  only  three  cases  does 
it  occur  among  the  negative  interval  errors.  In  four  cases  the 
frequency  for  the  octave  error  rises  above  all  preceding  fre- 
quencies except,  in  one  case,  that  of  the  semitone  error,  and,  in 
the  other  three  cases,  that  of  the  whole  tone  error.  Not  the 
slightest  evidence  is  found  in  any  record  of  a  preference  for 
errors  of  a  fourth  or  a  fifth,  as  is  sometimes  claimed  to  be  the 


42  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

case.  The  major  3rd  has  the  modal  frequency  of  error  in  two 
cases,  the  minor  3rd  in  three  cases,  the  major  second  in  seven- 
teen cases,  and  the  minor  second  in  all  other  cases  (numbering 
67). 

f .  Average  time  per  note  The  time  for  each  response  of 
the  observers  in  Group  1  was  taken  by  means  of  a  stop  watch. 
The  average  time  per  note  in  each  trial  was  found  for  the  five 
observers  who  continued  the  experiment  by  the  same  method 
throughout  the  academic  year,  and  recorded  in  Table  VIII. 
(See  Figure  6,  page  62.)  Wide  variations  from  trial  to  trial 
are  shown  in  each  record.  C  in  her  introspections  admits  that 
she  followed  very  different  methods  on  different  occasions. 
This  would  account  for  fluctuating  from  13.6  seconds  per 
note  to  18.7  seconds  to  10.4  seconds.  The  desire  to  improve 
upon  the  accuracy  of  past  records  had  a  tendency  to  lengthen 
the  time,  for  instead  of  making  an  immediate  quick  judgment 
the  observers  weighed  their  decisions  several  moments  to  as- 
sure themselves  of  the  approximate  correctness.  Fatigue 
and  changes  in  the  level  of  the  attention  affected  the  speed  of 
response.  Many  of  the  tests  were  given  late  in  the  afternoon 
when  concentration  on  a  task  which  taxed  one's  auditory 
perceptions  to  so  unusual  a  degree  was  difficult. 


TABLE 

VIII 

Showing 

the 

average 

Time  per  Note 

in  each 

Trial  of  the  1 

Practic 

Series.  (5  Observers  from  Group  1) 

Trials  in 

Average  Time 

per  note 

in  seconds 

Practice  Series 

B 

C 

E 

F 

G 

1 

11.5 

4.4 

6.0 

10.9 

4.9 

2 

14.2 

7.4 

6.2 

10.9 

4.9 

3 

13.7 

9.5 

6.6 

12.4 

7.4 

4 

13.5 

10.8 

6.3 

14.0 

7.2 

5 

17.9 

10.9 

6.5 

18.9 

9.1 

6 

21.1 

14.9 

5.6 

22.3 

13.7 

7 

9.9 

17.3 

8.2 

19.8 

7.9 

8 

11.7 

17.6 

8.4 

17.2 

6.0 

9 

16.9 

13.6 

9.3 

20.5 

7.1 

10 

11.6 

18.7 

8.2 

16.5 

6.5 

11 

12.8 

10.4 

8.8 

19.0 

5.1 

12 

14.9 

12.8 

7.7 

20.6 

5.8 

13 

9.9 

14.2 

8.9 

20.8 

4.7 

14 

13.1 

14.8 

8.5 

19.2 

5.8 

15 

13.8 

13.2 

9.0 

16.3 

4.5 

16 

16.7 

11.6 

7.6 

5.6 

17 

23.6 

12.6 

8.3 

5.9 

18 

21.2 

11.6 

3.8 

19 

20.7 

5.0 

20 

5.9 

21 

5.9 

22 

6.5 

JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  43 

The  observer  with  the  best  record  of  accuracy  in  the  test 
had  the  lowest  average  time,  but  the  observer  with  the  next 
best  record  had  the  highest  average  time.  The  observer  who 
was  second  best  in  time  had  the  least  successful  record  of  ac- 
curacy of  the  five  observers.  (See  Table  IX.)  Comparing 
the  average  time  and  average  accuracy  measured  by  the 
amount  of  error  in  each  trial  of  the  practice  series  of  these 
five  observers,  the  coefficient  of  correlation  in  each  case  is  as 
follows : 

B  r  :^  +  .028  p.e.  .153 

C  r  =  +  .528  p.e.  .152 

E  r  =  +  .807  p.  e.  .056 

F  r=  +  .308  p.e.  .014 

G  r  =r  —  .216  p.e.  .136 

In  the  case  of  E,  the  longer  the  time  taken  for  response  the 
fewer  the  errors.  There  is  but  slight  indication  of  this  for 
C  and  F,  none  at  all  for  B  and  the  barest  indication  that  the 
reverse  is  true  in  the  case  of  G.  On  the  whole  the  time  per 
response  is  a  very  inadequate  gauge  of  ability  in  these  tests. 
Correlating  the  time  per  individual  response  with  the  degree 
of  accuracy  in  G's  trial  17,  r  =  —  .037  p.e.  .071.  In  this  trial 
50  of  the  88  notes  were  correct  and  only  one  octave  error  oc- 
curred which  might  over-emphasize  the  size  of  individual  er- 
rors. 

g.  Average  time  for  correct  and  incorrect  notes  The  av- 
erage times  for  correct  and  for  incorrect  notes  found  from 
all  the  trials  of  the  five  observers  show  a  slightly  longer  time 
for  the  incorrect  responses  in  four  instances  and  a  longer  time 
for  the  correct  responses  in  one  instance.     (See  Figure  7,  page 

TABLE  IX 

Showing  the  Average  Time  for  all  Notes,  for  Correct  Notes  and  for 
Incorrect  Notes,  the  Size  of  the  Average  Error  and  the  Average  Number 
of  Sorrect  Notes.     (5  Observers) 

Average  Time  Average  Time  Average  Time    Size  of    Average 


srvei 

•    Per 

Note  in 

For  Correct 

For  Incorrect  Average 

Number 

Seconds 

Notes  in 

Notes  in 

Error  per 

of 

Seconds 

Seconds 

Note 

Measured  in 

Semitones 

Correct 
Notes 

B 

15.1 

14.1 

15.4 

4.1 

11.2 

C 

12.6 

12.0 

12.7 

3.4 

15.3 

E 

7.7 

6.9 

7.8 

3.4 

10.5 

P 

17.3 

17.6 

17.3 

2.0 

17.5 

6 

6.3 

6.4 

7.2 

1.7 

40.6 

44  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

63.)  This  last  observer  admits  that  she  made  use  of  relative 
pitch  in  a  large  measure;  and  in  consequence  of  her  rpund- 
about  method  all  her  times  are  long.  It  is  natural  that  the  cor- 
rect judgments  should  be  the  somewhat  quicker  responses. 
The  observers  knew  their  own  limitations  fairly  well  and 
would  pause  to  consider  certain  notes  in  the  keyboard  which 
were  invariably  difficult  to  judge  and  try  to  find  in  them  dis- 
tinguishable pitch  or  other  tonal  characteristics  which  might 
facilitate  judgment  on  later  occasions. 

h.  Individual  practice  curves  The  reduction  in  error  in 
the  individual  practice  curves  of  the  five  observers  of  Group  1 
is  exceedingly  irregular.  (See  Table  X,  Fig.  8.)  The  inter- 
ruptions caused  by  the  vacation  and  mid-year  examination 
periods  are  responsible  in  part  for  this,  although  variations 
in  method  and  attitude  are  more  important  factors.  All  ob- 
servers made  definite  initial  progress.  With  possibly  one  ex- 
ception no  definite  plateaus  occur  at  any  place,  and  the  curves 
indicate  on  the  whole  a  tendency  toward  improvement  which  at 
the  end  of  the  test  had  by  no  means  reached  a  level.  F  alone 
did  not  progress  in  her  last  five  trials.  Her  method,  which  was 
based  mostly  on  the  use  of  relative  pitch  whenever  possible, 

TABLE  X 

Showing  the  Amount  of  Error  per  Note  in  each  Trial  of  the  Practice 

Series  of  Five  Observers  from  Group  1. 

Trials  Average  Error  per  Note  measured  in  Semitones 

B  G  E  ~ 

1  5.6       4.8  5.2 

2  4.4       4.8  4.3 

3  6.6       5.4  4.3 

4  6.8       3.8  4.6 

5  6.4       4.4  3.6 

6  4.9       3.1  3.8 

7  5.2       4.7  3.6 

8  4.1       3.4  2.6 

9  4.6       3.0  3.4 

10  3.1  2.3  3.0 

11  2.8  2.7  2.6 

12  3.6  3.4  3.0 
18  3.6  8.7  3.1 

14  8.7  2.2  2.8 

15  3.8  2.9  3.4 

16  4.0  2.6  3.2 

17  3.6  2.2  2.2 

18  2.9  2.5 

19  2.1   1  Year  3.4 

20  ^^" 
21 
22 
23 


F 

G 

3.9 

2.5 

3.7 

2.8 

3.8 

2.1 

3.2 

2.0 

3.1 

1.9 

3.4 

2.4 

2.5 

2.1 

2.4 

1.4 

3.1 

1.9 

2.3 

1.3 

3.4 

1.2 

2.8 

1.8 

2.5 

Lower 
Pitched 

2.4 

2.4 

Piano 

2.5 

3.2 

1.4 

.7 

1.1 

Continued 

1.6 

during  the 

1.9 

Summer 

1.0 
1.4 

1  Year 

1.4 

Later 

1.6 

JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  45 

or  what  seemed  to  be  non-essential  associative  devices,  may 
have  hindered  her  improvement.  G's  lack  of  progress  during 
the  summer  is  partly  the  result  of  the  use  of  a  piano  with  a 
wholly  different  quality  of  sound,  and  partly  the  result  of  the 
inability  to  sustain  a  high  level  of  attention  on  oppressively 
hot  days. 

2.  Additional  Correlations  In  order  to  study  the  effect 
of  the  amount  of  time  spent  in  practice  on  improvement,  and 
the  effect  of  previous  musical  training  on  improvement,  the 
Pearson  coefficient  was  obtained  from  the  data  given  by  84 
members  of  the  three  groups.  Improvement  was  measured 
in  an  arbitrary  manner.  Because  of  the  fact  that  those  who 
started  out  poorly  had  much  more  opportunity  to  improve 
than  those  who  began  well,  a  definite  advantage  increasing 
in  arithmetic  progression  was  added  to  the  actual  amount  of 
improvement  of  the  last  trial  over  the  first  trial  in  each  case.^ 
The  correlation  between  this  arbitrary  amount  of  improve- 
ment and  the  amount  of  time  spent  in  practice  gave  r  =  + 
.391  p.e.  .061 ;  the  correlation  between  improvement  and  pre- 
vious musical  training  gave  r  =  -f-  .205  p.e.  .049.  In  both 
cases  the  positive  relationship  is  barely  existent.  Evidently 
frequency  of  hearing  the  piano  notes  is  alone  no  guarantee 
that  memory  for  absolute  tone  will  result.  It  must  be  noted 
that  the  specifically  directed  practice  for  this  experiment  gave 
a  slightly  higher  correlation  with  improvement  than  the  gen- 
eral musical  training  of  past  years  gave. 

The  average  degree  of  accuracy  per  person  was  correlated 
with  the  number  of  years  of  musical  training  and  gave  r  = 
+  .436  p.e.  .055.  This  shows  some  tendency  for  the  musically 
trained  to  make  a  smaller  amount  of  error  on  the  whole  than 
the  musically  untrained. 

Sixty  of  the  observers  had  taken  part  in  a  group  test  for 
pitch  discrimination,  in  which  the  standard  set  of  tuning 
forks  was  used.  The  standard  fork  and  each  of  the  ten  incre- 
infent  forks  was  repeated  ten  times  and  70%  accuracy  was 
taken  as  the  threshold  for  discrimination.    The  results  from 


'The  largest  total  amount  of  error  found  in  trial  1  was  745  semitones. 
Using  this  as  a  starting  point,  those  having  an  error  of  745  and  744  in 
their  first  trials  had  zero  added  to  their  amount  of  improvement.  The 
observers  starting  with  743  and  742  errors  measured  in  semitones  re- 
ceived an  increment  of  one  point  each,  those  starting  with  741  and  740 
errors  an  increment  of  two  points  each,  and  so  on  with  regular  increase 
to  the  observer  having  the  smallest  amount  of  error  which  proved  to  be 
223.    To  the  improvement  in  this  case  was  added  261  points. 


46  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

these  tests  were  correlated  with  the  average  error  of  these 
sixty  observers  and  gave  r  ==  -f  .376  p.e.  .073.  That  means 
roughly  that  a  low  threshold  has  a  slightly  better  chance  for 
accompanying  a  record  with  few  errors  than  a  higher  thresh- 
old. The  best  records  were  made  for  the  most  part  by  those 
with  the  keenest  ears. 

3.     Additional  tables 

a.  Average  error  in  the  piano  test  one  year  later  One 
year  after  the  close  of  the  tests  with  Groups  1  and  2,  sixteen 
members  of  the  groups  were  retested  in  a  similar  manner. 
Observers  from  Group  2  were  given  the  group  test  with  a  time 
limit  for  response  and  those  from  Group  1  were  tested  indi- 
vidually with  unlimited  time.*  An  examination  of  the  results 
given  in  Table  XI  shows  that  one-fourth  of  the  observers  did 
better  as  measured  by  average  error  the  following  year  than 
at  the  last  trial  of  the  previous  year.  One-half  made  a  better 
record  in  the  retesting  than  the  average  of  thir  practice  series 
records,  and  fourteen  of  the  sixteen  in  their  retesting  improved 
on  their  records  for  the  first  trials  of  the  series.  The  corre- 
lation between  the  size  of  the  error  of  the  last  trial  of  the 
practice  series  and  the  size  of  the  error  at  the  retesting  gives 
r  =:  -|-  .68  p.e.  .09.    This  indicates  that  the  amount  retained 

TABLE  XI 

Showing  the  Size  of  the  Error  measured  in  Semitones  of  a  Trial  One 
Year  after  the  Close  of  the  Practice  Series,  Retesting  the  Ability  to 
Identify  the  88  Piano  Notes,  and  its  Relation  to  Previous  Errors. 


Error 

Error 

Error 

Error 

Observers 

Per  Note 

Per  Note  in 

Per  Note  in 

Per  Note  One 

First  Trial 

Last  Trial 

Year  Later 

G 

1.7 

2.5 

1.4 

1.5 

Group  1    C 

3.4 

4.8 

2.5 

3.3 

Rn 

3.6 

6.2 

2.5 

3.1 

Group  2  M 

3.9 

7.7 

3.3 

8.2 

Bt 

4.0 

4.8 

2.8 

4.2 

K 

4.0 

5.1 

3.6 

8.4 

Mc 

4.2 

5.0 

3.3 

8.9 

T 

4.3 

5.5 

2.8 

5.1 

Da 

4.3 

5.3 

3.4 

4.4 

Hs 

4.4 

5.8 

3.2 

4.6 

Ce 

4.5 

6.8 

4.5 

5.1 

Hk 

4.8 

5.2 

4.3 

8.9 

S 

5.2 

7.6 

2.6 

5.3 

Kp 

5.2 

6.1 

5.5 

6.6 

Hn 

5.4 

5.1 

5.9 

5.9 

P 

5.7 

5.7 

5.0 

5.4 

*These  observers  were  selected  simply  on  the  basis  of  availability,  con- 
sequently include  good,  fair  and  poor  observers. 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  47 

over  a  period  without  practice  is  to  some  degree  proportional 
to  the  degree  of  ability  acquired  from  the  practice.  Four  of 
the  six  observers  who  said  they  had  not  attempted  to  identify 
notes  during  the  year  just  past,  made  records  poorer  than  the 
results  averaged  from  the  total  number  of  trials  of  the  practice 
series.  Six  of  the  ten  observers  who  had  made  some  attempts 
at  tonal  recognition  in  the  year's  interval  made  better  records 
than  the  average  record  of  their  practice  series. 

b.  Individual  frequency  of  correctness  for  the  88  notes 
on  the  piano  The  frequency  with  which  the  correct  names 
were  given  to  each  note  on  the  piano  keyboard  is  given  in 
Table  XII.  The  c's  have  the  highest  frequency  of  correctness, 
then  in  order  come  a,  h,  g,  d,  f,  e,  a%  (or  6b)  >  Q%  (or  ab) 
and  d%  (or  e\)),  c#  (or  d\)),  and  f%  (or  g\)).  C^  has  the 
largest  number  of  correct  responses.  The  next  eleven  in  order 
are:  A„  h\  a\  c\  c\  B,,  ap  (or  6b*),  Atf^  (or  B\j,),  g\  D, 
and  d^.  The  twelve  in  order  with  the  smallest  number  of 
correct  responses  are:  c#^  (or  d\)^),  F|:  (or  Gb),  g^^  (or 
ab^),  G#  (or  Ah),  Djj^  (or  Eh),  df  (or  eh'),  Q  (or  Dh),  c# 
(or  dh)  and  d^  (or  eh),  fr  (or  gh^)  and  cf  (or  dh'),  and  /f 
(or  gh').  Excluding  the  three  notes  of  the  subcontra  octave 
and  c^  the  seven  octaves  arrange  themselves  according  to 
frequency  of  correct  responses  as  follows:  four-accented 
octave,  once-accented  (or  middle)  octave,  contra  octave,  twice- 
accented  octave,  small  octave  thrice-accented,  and  great 
octave.  It  is  to  be  expected  that  the  results  from  these  groups 
of  observers  who  did  not  at  the  start  possess  memory  for 
absolute  tone  will  be  markedly  different  from  results  obtained 
from  the  selected,  especially  gifted  group.  However,  if  we 
leave  out  of  consideration  the  subcontra  octave  and  the  four- 
times  accented  octave  (which  by  pure  chance  the  observers 
might  name  correctly  more  frequently  than  the  central 
octaves),  and  give  the  remaining  five  their  rank  in  this  re- 
spect, the  results  from  these  groups  coincide  exactly  with 
Bak-d's  results  (see  page  21),  namely: 

C-B  c-b  c^-b*  c'-b*  c'-b' 

5  3  12  4 


48  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 


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JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  49 

The  assignment  of  individual  notes  to  the  observers  in 
Group  2  had  definite  value.  First  they  aided  in  making  the 
task  more  concrete  and  stimulating.  Little  stress  was  laid 
on  the  notes  after  they  were  assigned,  for  it  was  thought  that 
emphasis  on  individual  notes  might  divert  the  attention  from 
a  study  of  the  entire  range.  The  observers,  however,  took 
readily  to  the  idea  of  mastering  a  single  note  and  frequently 
practiced  the  other  notes  in  relation  to  this  one.  Second  the 
results  from  the  notes  assigned  illustrate  the  value  of  spe- 
cially directed  practice.  In  comparing  the  frequency  of  right 
responses  for  individual  notes  with  that  for  the  average  note, 
it  is  striking  that  the  assigned  notes  were  correctly  named  ap- 
proximately two  and  a  half  times  as  often  as  the  average  note. 


TABLE  XIII 

Showing  the  Average  Error  per  Note  in  Semitones,  the  Range  of  Posi- 
tive and  Negative  Errors  and  the  Medium  Position  for  each  3-Semitone 
Division  of  the  87  Piano  Notes,  based  on  725  Trials  from  Groups  1,  2 
and  3,  and  measured  in  Semitones." 


3-Semitone 

Average  Error 

Range  of  Errors 

Median  Position 

Divisions 

per  Note  in 

in  Semitones 

per  Note  in 

Semitones 

Positive 

Negative 

Semitones 

1    A,— 

3.4 

25 

—  2 

+1.14 

2     C,  — 

3.8 

26 

—  5 

+ 

.20 

3     D«,— 

3.6 

27 

—  8 

.89 

4     F»,- 

4.6 

27 

—11 

+ 

.75 

5     A,  — 

5.0 

26 

—14 

+ 

.11 

6     C    — 

5.1 

26 

—17 

.15 

7     DJ- 

5.1 

26 

—19 

+ 

.72 

8     FS- 

5.5 

26 

—22 

+ 

.36 

9     A   — 

5.4 

27 

—23 

+ 

.41 

10     c   — 

5.9 

34 

—25 

+1.17 

11     d#  — 

5.3 

30 

—24 

+1.22 

12    fjf  — 

4.7 

30 

—23 

+ 

.47 

13     a   — 

4.0 

22 

—28 

+ 

.13 

14     c*  — 

3.8 

24 

—25 

+ 

.04 

15     dr— 

4.0 

29 

—28 

.56 

16     f«^- 

4.0 

26 

—28 

— 

.55 

17     a'  — 

4.1 

27 

—22 

— 

.73 

18   e  — 

4.5 

26 

—25 

+ 

.03 

19'   dtf'— 

4.7 

26 

—26 

-- 

.25 

20 ''  f  r— 

5.2 

26 

—27 

— 

.20 

21     a*  — 

5.6 

26 

—34 

+ 

.30 

22     c'  — 

5.8 

23 

—26 

+ 

.08 

23     dtt'— 

5.5 

19 

—27 

+ 

.13 

24    fS'— 

5.4 

18 

—33 

— 

.64 

25     a'  — 

5.3 

14 

—35 

— 

.87 

26     c*  — 

5.0 

12 

—35 

+ 

.39 

27    dr— 

4.1 

9 

—27 

+ 

.13 

28     fP— 

3.1 

6 

—25 

+ 

.05 

29     a*  — 

2.1 

3 

—23 

— 

.74 

V  was  omitted  in  order  to  preserve  the  3-semitone  grouping. 


50  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

c.  Average  error  per  note,  range  of  positive  and  negative 
errors  and  median  position  for  each  3 -semitone  division  of  the 
87  piano  notes  The  results  from  experiments  in  pitch  dis- 
crimination show  that  absolute  differences  in  discriminative 
ability  measured  in  terms  of  vibration  rates  tend  to  remain 
constant  over  a  limited  range.*'  Hence  an  increase  in  keenness 
follows  a  rise  in  pitch  when  measured  relatively,  that  is,  in 
terms  of  a  fractional  part  of  a  tone.  These  facts  would  lead 
one  to  expect  a  similar  gain  in  accuracy  in  judgments  of  ab- 
solute pitch.  The  data,  however,  do  not  bear  out  this  supposi- 
tion. The  correlation  between  average  accuracy,  based  on  the 
average  error  measured  in  semitones  from  725  records,  of  the 
35  'naturals'  from  the  five  octaves  C  to  c*  and  the  absolute 
size  of  the  semitone  interval  measured  in  terms  of  vibration 
rates,  gives  r  =  — .24  p.e.  .024.^  The  accuracy  remains  fairly 
steady  between  C  and  /,  where  the  average  error  is  about  five 
semitones,  then  improves  between  g  and  e%  c^  having  the 
smallest  amount  of  error,  namely,  3.6  semitones,  and  from  e^ 
decreases  and  remains  with  an  error  of  slightly  over  five  semi- 
tones up  to  c*.  The  median  positions  for  the  individual  notes 
taken  in  groups  of  threes  (Fig.  9)  show  remarkably  little  var- 
iation from  their  true  positions. 

Other  factors  were  obviously  operating  against  this  ad- 
mitted increase  in  discriminative  ability.  Frequency  of  hear- 
ing the  notes  in  the  middle  range  was  undoubtedly  a  very  im- 
portant element.  Loss  of  distinct  changes  in  volume  with 
rise  in  pitch  might  counteract  the  benefits  derived  from  rela- 
tive improvement  in  pitch  discrimination.  Rich  tested  for 
volume  limens  at  three  levels,  275  v.d.,  550  v.d.  and  1100  v.d., 
and  from  his  results  concludes  that  volume  tends  to  follow 
Weber's  Law.^  Whatever  the  status  of  volume  it  proved  in- 
fluential in  judgments  of  absolute  pitch  and  a  progressive 
lessening  of  its  efficiency  in  these  regions  tested  would  affect 
the  accuracy  of  pitch  judgments. 

The  chief  factor  which  can  account  for  the  sharp  turns  of 
the  curve  at  c  and  at  c^  (Fig.  10)  is  the  'end-error.'  The  larg- 
est possible  negative  error  at  c  is  27  semitones,  and  the  largest 


'C.  E.  Seashore,  The  Psychology  of  Musical  Talent,  1919,  p.  73. 

'The  overestimations  and  the  underestimations  per  note  were  added 
together  and  correlated  with  the  semitone  interval  above  and  below 
each  respective  note. 

*G.  T.  Rich,  A  Study  of  Tonal  Attributes.  American  Journal  of  Psy- 
chology, 1919,  50,  pp.  149-153. 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH 


51 


possible  positive  error  at  c^  is  24  semitones,  owing  to  the  ex- 
tremes of  the  pianoforte.  An  error  of  approximately  these 
amounts  is  found  to  occur  fairly  regularly  throughout  the  in- 
termediate range  of  notes.  On  approaching  the  extremes  of 
the  piano  the  size  of  the  plus  or  minus  error  is  necessarily  re- 
duced and  the  curve  falls  correspondingly. 

d.  Average  error  and  average  time  in  the  test  with  the 
pipe-organ  The  experiments  on  the  organ  were  undertaken 
with  the  idea  of  making  a  study  of  the  effects  of  different  tim- 
bres upon  tonal  judgment.  Many  difficulties  were  met  in  the 
attempt.  The  organ  was  less  accessible  than  the  piano  and 
the  range  of  the  stops  varied  considerably,  so  that  a  compari- 
son of  results  was  difficult.    Therefore  these  experiments  were 


TABLE  XIV 

Showing  the  Average  Error  per  Note  measured  in  Semitones  and  the 
Average  Time  per  Note  in  Seconds  for  Three  Observers  in  Judging  the 
Notes  from  Organ  Stops. 


Observers         Organ  Stops 
used 

Average  Error  per 

Note  Measured  in 

Semitones 

Average 

Time  per  Note 

in  Seconds 

C 

Viola              (60  notes) 
Diapason       (60  notes) 
Oboe              (40  notes) 
Flute              (60  notes) 

3.2 
3.5 
3.4 
9.8 

17.3 

9.7 

13.4 

12.4 

Piano              (Trial 
Experiment         (Aver. 

1                  4.8 
3.3 

12.6 

Ht 

Viola 
Diapason 
Oboe 
Flute 

3.7 
4.4 
6.4 
6.3 

13.6 
7.3 

7.1 
8.4 

Piano              (Trial 
Experiment         (Aver. 

1                  5.5 
3.6 

10.2 

B 

Viola 

Diapason 

Oboe 

4.1 
4.1 
3.5 

13.1 
11.6 
10.8 

^  ?( 

Piano              (Trial 
Experiment         (Aver. 

1                  5.5 

4.1 

15.1 

not  carried  as  far  as  was  originally  intended.  The  results  from 
three  of  the  observers  are  given  in  Table  XIV.  The  average 
error  per  note  differs  but  little  from  the  average  error  for 
piano  notes.  The  flute  stop  has  a  slightly  larger  amount  of  er- 
ror than  that  found  in  the  first  trial  on  the  piano,  whereas  the 
other  stops  have  for  the  most  part  less  error  than  that  of 


52  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

trial  1  on  the  piano  and  slightly  more  error  than  the  average 
error  of  the  practice  series  on  the  piano.  All  the  observers 
when  tested  on  the  organ  had  the  advantage  of  three  months' 
practice  in  judging  notes  on  the  piano.  Since  the  range  of 
notes  is  smaller  for  the  organ  stops  than  for  the  piano,  the  ob- 
servers had  less  chance  for  making  gross  errors  with  organ 
notes  than  with  piano  notes.  This  factor  must  be  considered 
in  comparing  their  results.  The  average  time  per  notes  for 
the  four  organ  stops  does  not  differ  to  any  considerable  degree 
from  the  average  time  needed  to  judge  piano  notes. 

e.  Violin  errors  and  correct  notes  Go's  progress  in  the 
violin  practice  series  is  similar  to  that  of  the  piano  series, — 
an  irregular  decrease  in  the  size  of  the  average  error  per  trial 
together  with  an  irregular  increase  in  the  number  of  correct 
notes.  C  and  G  were  tested  a  single  time  in  identifying  the 
violin  notes  one  year  after  the  close  of  their  long  practice  se- 
ries on  the  piano.  It  is  significant  that  but  one  octave  error 
occurs  in  any  of  the  results  from  these  tests  on  the  violin. 
Go  often  mentioned  that  the  notes  on  the  A  and  the  D  strings 


TABLE  XV 

Records  of  Errors  and  Correct  Notes  of  Three  Observers  in  Judging 
33  Violin  Tones  (gS— d'). 

Observers  Co. 

Trials  123456789     10     11 

Size  of 

Error  103  79  69  61  36  67  36  37  59     21     31 


Measured  in 
Semitones 

Number  of  3    2     9     4  15     9  14  10  14    20     16 

Correct  Notes 


1 

8 

22 


1 

80 


seemed  alike,  but  never  that  octave  differences  could  not  be 
distinguished.  Go's  interval  errors  vary  from  overestimations 
of  a  semitone  to  a  minor  sixth,  and  from  underestimations  of 
a  semitone  to  a  minor  seventh.  G's  interval  errors  extend  to 
overestimation  of  a  major  third,  plus  one  octave  error,  and  to 
underestimations  of  a  major  sixth.  G's  interval  errors  are  two 
semitone  overestimations  and  four  semitone  and  one  whole 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  53 

tone  underestimation.^  In  these  experiments  the  accuracy 
of  the  pitch  of  the  notes  depends  on  the  experimenter's  keen- 
ness of  hearing  and  technique  with  the  instrument.  Slight 
inaccuracies  necessarily  occur,  which  make  these  results  in  a 
measure  less  reliable  than  those  from  the  study  of  the  piano 
keyboard. 

f .  Kymograph  records  Two  kymograph  records  measur- 
ing the  breathing  curve,  movements  of  the  larynx,  movements 
of  the  tongue  and  changes  in  volume  in  the  arm  were  taken 
during  the  tests  for  judgments  of  violin  notes  for  C  and  G 
(see  Figures  11,  12,  pages  66,  67).^  During  the  early  part 
of  the  experiment  C's  records  show  little  movement  of  the 
larynx  or  the  tongue,  and  fairly  regular  although  shallow 
breathing.  The  breath  was  usually  suspended  on  hearing  the 
sound  until  the  judgment  was  made,  as  is  characteristic  dur- 
ing tense  attention.  Later  on  in  the  test  more  movement  of 
the  tongue  and  the  larynx  is  found  and  the  breathing  curve 
becomes  increasingly  irregular.  Absence  of  any  gross  move- 
ment, except  at  times  during  the  initial  adjusting  period  char- 
acterizes the  interval  for  judgment. 

G's  curves  show  more  general  movement  than  those  of  C. 
The  irregular  crests  of  the  erratic  breathing  curve  with  its 
periods  of  held  breath  indicates  also  very  strained  attention 
(due  in  part  to  the  observer's  interest  in  the  production  of 
the  tones  as  well  as  in  her  own  task).  The  curve  for  move- 
ments of  the  larnyx  shows  usually  a  gradual  depression  dur- 
ing the  presentation  of  the  note,  indicating  a  lessening  of 
pressure.  The  curve  for  tongue  movement  shows  a  fairly  uni- 
formly slight  rise  during  the  judging  period,  the  result  of 
pressure.  On  the  whole  there  is  comparative  quiet  during  the 
interval  between  presentation  and  response  in  contrast  to  the 
continual  slight  movements  recorded  at  other  times.  Kin- 
aesthesis,  was,  therefore,  a  negligible  factor  in  this  experi- 
in6iQ.t  in  identifying  notes.  The  average  time  for  judgment 
was  12  seconds  for  C  and  6  seconds  for  G,  which  corresponds 
closely  with  the  average  judging  time  for  piano  notes. 


'G  has  always  noticed  the  sympathetic  vibration  of  the  open  string 
when  that  note  is  played  on  the  adjacent  string  in  one  of  the  higher  po- 
sitions. This  would  invariably  give  a  clue  to  the  names  of  certain  notes. 
The  other  observers  apparently  made  no  use  of  this  factor  in  their 
identifications. 

*The  plethysmographic  records  were  discarded  because  they  did  not 
give  sufficiently  clear  readings. 


54  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

g.  Results  from  the  experiment  with  chords  (See  Table 
XVI)  The  practice  series  of  observers  Bd  and  G  for  judging 
the  fundamental  tone  of  the  twelve  tonic  chords  based  on 
each  note  within  the  middle  octave  show  an  initial  relatively 
low  ability  and  fairly  regular  improvement.  The  most  fre- 
quent errors  for  Bd  are  in  order :  semitone,  whole  tone,  minor 
third,  major  third,  fifth,  fourth  and  augmented  fourth;  for  G: 

TABLE  XVI 

Results  for   Three  Observers  in  judging  the   Twelve   Tonic  Chords 
played  Twice  at  each  Trial  on  the  Piano  within  the  Range  c*-c'. 


Bd 
Trials 
12     3     4 


Total  Correct  6     7     8    8 

Size  of  Error  81  26  28  28 

in  Semitones 


G 


Trials         9  mos. 
later 

Tr 

12     3     4     5 

1 

9     7  10  14  15 
21  20  21  15  11 

22 
2 

Hr 


semitone,  whole  tone,  minor  third  and  fourth.  H's  errors 
consisted  in  two  semitone  errors.  Only  Bd  responded  at  any 
time  with  names  of  other  notes  contained  in  the  chord,  and 
only  in  trial  1  do  responses  of  the  fifth  occur.  Here  as  in  the 
tests  with  single  notes  the  errors  on  the  whole  were  less  fre- 
quent the  larger  the  interval.  Both  Hr  and  G  did  relatively 
poorer  in  this  test  than  in  the  tests  for  judgments  of  single 
piano  tones  in  the  same  tonal  region.  Only  two  semitone  er- 
rors out  of  84  responses  occurred  in  Hr's  judgments  in  the  mid- 
dle octave  and  G's  errors  in  this  region,  out  of  276  responses, 
seldom  exceeded  a  semitone.  This  is  contrary  to  the  views 
expressed  by  von  Kries,  Abraham,  Boggs  and  Kohler.  Stumpf 
reports  a  similar  case.^"  All  of  the  observers  in  this  test  had 
had  sufficient  musical  education  to  make  chord  analysis  com- 
paratively simple.  Some  new  factor  of  fusion  was  entering 
in  to  complicate  this  situation  rendering  the  new  tonal  blends 
baffling.  That  these  difficulties  could  be  met  by  continued 
practice  is  evidenced  by  the  improvement  in  the  successive 
trials. 

h.    Results  from  the  experiments  with  tuning  forks    A 
certain  amount  of  ability  in  identifying  the  ten  increment 

"Stumpf,  op.  cit.,  vol.  2,  pp.  553-554. 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  55 

and  standard  (435  v.d.)  tuning  forks  was  shown  by  G  (Table 
XVII).  The  results  for  the  higher  pitched  forks  are  well  be- 
yond the  limits  of  pure  chance.  When  the  increment  from 
fork  to  fork  is  very  small  the  judgments  seem  little  better  than 
guesses.  The  number  of  times  each  fork  was  responded  shows 
a  preference  for  naming  the  3  v.  d.  and  5  v.  d.  increment  forks. 
This  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  the  standard  fork  (435  v.  d.) 
was  always  thought  of  as  a^,  which  has  a  somewhat  shifting 
value,  a^  at  concert  pitch  being  440  v.  d.  and  435  v.  d.  for  ordi- 
nary purposes.  Hence  the  3  v.  d.  and  5  v.  d.  increment  forks 
might  on  this  account  be  confused  at  times  with  the  standard 
fork. 

i.  Tonoscope  records  The  ability  to  reproduce  a  tone  de- 
pends to  as  large  a  degree  on  one's  ability  to  sing  the  note 
that  one  is  imagining  as  on  one's  accurate  formation  of  an 
image.  False  attempts  are  confusing  and  interfere  with  the 
voluntary  production  of  adequate  images.  The  nine  observers 
who  took  part  in  singing  the  notes  c^  and  a^  into  the  tonoscope 
were  more  successful  as  a  group  with  c^  than  with  a^,  both  in 
regard  to  the  average  vibration  rates  and  the  average  devia- 
tions (Table  XVIII) .  The  three  violinists  F,  B,  and  G,  and  Co 
who  had  completed  the  practice  series  for  the  violin,  have  the 
best  results  of  the  group  for  a^.  It  is  natural  that  a%  the  note 
to  which  violins  are  tuned,  should  persevere  with  some  accura- 
cy in  their  minds.  The  large  amount  of  underestimation  in 
singing  a^  is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  increased  muscular  strain 
in  producing  higher  notes.  The  largest  amount  of  error  for 
c^  for  all  but  one  observer.  A,  does  not  exceed  a  whole  tone; 
for  a^,  with  the  same  exception,  is  nearly  a  major  third.  Ob- 
server A  had  the  poorest  record  of  any  member  of  Group  1 
who  took  part  in  identifying  piano  notes.  The  relatively  small 
errors  of  the  other  observers  do  not  offer  much  ground  for 
comparison  with  their  results  in  the  tests  in  judging  piano 
not^s.  The  variations  in  standard  pitch  of  the  different  pianos 
make  it  difficult  to  arbitrarily  select  435  v.  d.  or  440  v.  d.  as  the 
basis  for  grading.  Generally  speaking  in  this  test  the  best  ob- 
servers have  also  been  those  who  excelled  in  the  tone  identifi- 
cations, and  the  poorest  observers  those  who  were  relatively 
less  successful  in  judging  piano  notes. 


56 


THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 


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JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH 


57 


TABLE  XVIII. 

Showing  the  Vibration  Rates  averaged  from  Three  Records  taken 
at  different  Times  on  the  Tonoscope  of  Tones  which  the  Observers, 
unaided  by  any  Artificial  Devices,  believed  to  be  &  and  a^ 


Observers      c*  =  261  v.d. 

Averages       Deviation 


a*  =  435  v.d. 
A.D.      Averages      Deviation 


A.D. 


from  261  v.d. 

from  435  v.d. 

c 

263  v.d. 

+2  v.d.   7.0  v.d. 

358  v.d. 

—77  v.d.   2.0  V. 

F 

263 

+2      7.8 

418 

—17      4.5 

G 

267 

+6      4.3 

450 

+15     26.0 

E 

252 

—9      1.3 

510 

--75      5.7 

B 

285 

+24     2.3 

408 

--27     12.7 

D 

237 

—24     5.0 

356 

—79     13.3 

Co 

265 

+4     39.7 

421 

—14      4.7 

W 

285 

+24     25.7 

392 

—43     17.7 

A 

404 

+143     9.7 

579 

+144    43.5 

Averaae     Lrrof     b-^r     Mote 

Figure  1. — Frequency-Distribution  of  Error  per  Note  measured  in 
Semitones  and  averaged  from  Total  Number  of  Trials  from  Groups 
1,  2  and  3.  (Table  I) 


58 


THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 


0-3  f-5  2-5  5.5  4.0  SO  6.0  7.3  3.5 

Averacje    Error    ^er    Note    ir\    first   and    La^T    Trials 

Figure  2. — Frequency-Distribution  of  Error  per  Note  measured  in 
Semitones  from  First  and  Last  Trials  of  the  Practice  Series.  First 
Trial  in  Broken  Line.  Last  Trial  in  Continuous  Line.  (Tables  II  and  III) 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH 


59 


o 


0- 
o 


3  \Z  irJ  lO  2.1  24         27 

Nlumber   of    Correct    Notes 


Figure  3. — Frequency-Distribution  of  Correct  Notes  averaged  from 
Td^al  Number  of  Trials  from  Groups  2  (Continuous  Line),  1,  added  to 
Group  2  (Dotted  Line),  and  3,  added  to  (jroups  1  and  2  (Broken  Line). 


60 


THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 


iQ 


O 


16 

K 

)4 

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O 

J                  ^ 

A 

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^^0 

as  6.0  9.3  ^^.5  10.3  18.5  Z/,'5  ^4.'3 

Averaqe      Number     of     Correct      Notes 

Figure  4. — Distribution  of  Correct  Notes  in  First  and  Last  Trials  of 
the  Practice  Series.  First  Trial  in  Broken  Line,  Last  Trial  in  Con- 
tinuous Line.    (Tables  V  and  VI) 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH 


61 


750O 


7000 


030O 


4000 


(J    5^00 


5000 


zooo 


1 300 


Octave 


-Third 


t)  (U 
(piD 


—  CM 


6  O  10  la  14-  16 

5iz:e     of     Interval      Erroi 


2.i 


Figure  5.— Total  Frequency  of  Interval  Errors  obtained  from  all 
Records,  Broken  Line  represents  Underestimation  of  Interval,  Contin- 
uous Line  Overestimation  of  Interval.  (Table  VII) 


62 


THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 


Figure  6. — Average  Time  per  Note  in  each  Trial  of  the  Practice  Series 
for  5  Observers.     (Table  VIII) 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH 


63 


Observers 

Figure  7. — Average  Time  for  Correct  and  Incorrect  Notes  in  Seconds. 
Continuous  Line  represents  Time  for  Correct  Notes,  Broken  Line  Time 
for  Incorrect  Notes.    5  observers.    (Table  IX) 


64 


THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 


5umnncr  on 
<id1crcntTiQ.no 


O  lO  J2,  14  16 

Number     ot     Trial's 


IS        2o        zz. 


Figure  8.— Practice  Curves  for  Observers  B,  C,  E,  F  and  G,  based  on 
Average  Error  per  Note  for  each  Trial.     (Table  X) 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH 


65 


H 

+50 

t-,0 

iGfc 

f 

v^o 

<U   <u 

>uO 

-J-IO 

<U  A) 

^% 

Hu 

O 

^^ 

y  c 

>  o 

-K) 

+=4= 

Vsfs 

P^(X 

-?0 

^S 

11 

-30 

fCr, 

c 

d 

! 


O  4-  6  iZ  16  20  Z-i  26 

5- 5emiTor\e    Divi5ion5     of  The  87    Piano    NoTes 


Figure  9. — Range  of  Positive  and  Negative  Errors  and  Median  Posi- 
tion for  each  3-Semitone  Division  of  the  87  Piano  Notes. 


._c' c"^ c- 


._-c4.--|y^ 


Figure  10. — Average  Error  per  Note  per  3-Semitone  Division  based 
on  725  Trials  from  Groups  1,  2  and  3.  (Table  XIII) 


66 


THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 


Record 
of    Time 
in    sees. 


Tongue 
Movement 


Figure  11. — Kymograph  Records  of  Movement  during  Period  of  Judg- 
ing Violin  Notes  by  Observer  G. 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH 


67 


2? 

V.3 


Hrt 


V. 

Analysis  of  Introspective  Reports 

The  responses  to  the  questionnaire,  which  are  given  in  full 
on  pages  30-33,  bring  out  many  striking  features.  First, 
the  observers  in  Groups  1  and  2  have  had  distinct  musical  ad- 
vantages. Only  four  observers  had  no  practical  music  train- 
ing of  any  kind.  A  summary  of  the  frequencies  of  individual 
ratings  for  musical  ability  on  a  basis  of  0  to  10,  from  74  ob- 
servers is  as  follows: 

Ratings  0123456789     10 

Frequencies  7     2     4     6  12  14     6  14     7     2       0 

The  frequencies  of  rating  for  musical  appreciation  are  as  fol- 
lows: 

Ratings  0123456789     10 

Frequencies  1     0     1     1     3  13     9  15  19     9       3 

The  median  frequency  for  musical  ability  falls  on  grade  5, 
and  for  musical  appreciation  on  grade  7.  The  frequencies  for 
individual  estimates  of  good,  fair  and  poor  in  musical  memory 
are  as  follows: 

Memory  Good  Fair  Poor 

Frequencies  22  38  14 

The  tests  for  imagery  yield  the  following  results : 

Most  Vivid  Type 

of  Imagery  Visual  Auditory  Motor  Mixed 

Frequencies  48  10  8  8 

Half  of  the  observers  who  possess  a  predominance  of  auditory 
imagery  rank  very  near  the  top  in  ability  to  identify  notes,  the 
others  are  scattered  throughout  the  middle  ranks.  None  with 
good  auditory  imagery  are  found  near  the  poor  extreme  in  this 
ability.  No  similar  correspondence  is  found  for  the  other 
types. 

The  literature  on  tonal  identification  assumes  that  people 
with  marked  ability  in  this  respect  always  recognize  first  the 
note-name,  as  c  or  d,  then  after  momentary  reflection  give  it 
a  place  in  an  octave,  as  c^  or  d^.    The  questionnaire  reveals 

68 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  69 

the  fact  that  fourteen  observers  were  accustomed  to  identi- 
fying the  note  directly,  not  for  example  as  some  d  or  other,  but 
as  cZ\  The  observers  who  made  this  a  single  process  include 
some  of  the  most  able  in  identification  and  others  less  able. 
Seven  of  the  79  reporting  recognize  the  names  of  the  note 
first  and  later  its  octave.  Three  of  these  seven  were  notably 
good  in  their  judgments,  the  other  four  only  fair.  Forty-six 
observers  named  the  octave  first  and  then  gave  the  note. 
Twelve  occasionally  named  the  note  first,  occasionally  the  oc- 
tave first. 

In  reporting  direct  or  indirect  judgments  twenty-six  usu- 
ally gave  the  immediate  or  direct  judgment,  thirty-four  usual- 
ly delayed  judgment  for  consideration,  ten  at  some  times  gave 
direct  judgments  at  other  times  indirect  judgments. 

Thirty-eight  preferred  strongly  to  judge  the  note  from  its 
initial  sound,  immediately  after  it  was  played  (which  neces- 
sitated many  short  repetitions  of  the  note) ,  twenty-five  prefer- 
red to  have;  it  sound  a  few  moments  before  trying  to  make  a 
judgment,  and  two  were  impartial.  Those  who  judged  from 
the  initial  sound  had  on  the  whole  the  best  results. 

In  response  to  the  question  regarding  the  setting  which 
each  note  was  given,  forty-five  gave  the  note  a  spatial  position 
on  either  an  imagined  piano  keyboard  or  on  the  cardboard 
chart  placed  before  them.  Seven  thought  of  it  as  belonging  to 
a  particular  scale,  nine  as  belonging  to  a  chord,  one  as  the 
fifth  of  a  chord,  others  as  the  fundamental  of  a  tonic  chord, 
and  others  as  the  tonic  or  the  dominant  seventh  of  a  chord 
followed  by  its  proper  resolution,  ten  combined  a  number  of 
the  settings  already  mentioned,  and  five  claimed  to  have  no 
definite  namable  setting  for  the  note.  Several  referred  the 
note  frequently  to  imagined  violin  notes,  and  one  had  an  imag- 
inative ladder  scheme  which  represented  the  ascending  and  the 
I  descending  scales.  Those  who  gave  the  notes  definite  settings 
*       in,  chords  had  on  the  whole  the  best  objective  results. 

'The  aids  to  recognition  which  are  enumerated  in  the  re- 
ports are,  (1)  kinaesthetic  sensations  (vocal  motor  and  other 
forms),  (2)  knowledge  of  the  vocal  range,  (3)  auditory  mem- 
ory of  the  individual  notes  assigned,  (4)  auditory  images  of 
the  tonic  chord  or  other  chord  combinations  with  harmonic 
resolutions,  (5)  auditory  images  of  notes  a  third  or  a  fifth 
or  an  octave  above  the  note  presented,  (6)  auditory  memory 
of  the  violin  a^  and  other  notes,  and  the  piano  c%  and  in  gener- 


70  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

al  the  c's,  6's,  and  /'s  on  the  piano,  (7)  recollections  of  certain 
pieces,  (8)  recognition  of  certain  tonal  characteristics,  and  (9) 
tonal  volume.  The  hindrances  to  recognition  enumerated 
in  the  reports  are,  (1)  a  shifting  standard  of  some  pitch  or 
pitches  in  memory,  (2)  distracting  noises  (including  distant 
music,  occasional  faint  humming,  not  permitted  in  the  group, 
the  sounds  of  lawn  mowers  and  bursts  of  song  from  nearby 
birds,  which  could  not  at  all  times  be  eliminated),  (3)  waver- 
ing of  the  attention  through  fatigue  or  distraction,  (4)  the  un- 
familiar tone-quality  of  the  piano,  and  (5)  the  inability  to 
produce  voluntarily  auditory  images. 

The  majority  of  the  observers  regarded  the  first  part  of 
the  sitting  as  the  easiest  because  then  they  felt  fresh  and 
could  control  their  attention  better,  and  the  last  part  of  the 
sitting  the  hardest,  because  as  the  experiment  continued  their 
imaginations  flagged  increasingly  through  fatigue  and  distrac- 
tion. A  few  observers  felt  that  the  task  grew  easier  during 
the  course  of  the  sitting,  as  they  overcame  the  first  strangeness 
of  the  situation  and  adapted  themselves  to  a  kind  of  temporary 
auditory  set  which  facilitated  judgment. 

Twenty-seven  observers  report  that  they  found  the  middle 
range  of  the  piano  the  most  difficult  to  judge  and  the  extreme 
octaves  the  easiest.  Twenty-five  observers  found  the  middle 
range  the  easiest  and  the  low  notes  hardest,  and  eight  ob- 
servers thought  the  reverse  to  be  the  case.  (See  Table  XII, 
page  48).  In  explanation  many  said  that  the  middle  octaves 
were  more  familiar  to  them  on  account  of  the  frequency  with 
which  they  had  heard  them,  and  on  account  of  their  ability 
to  form  auditory  kinaesthetic  images  of  notes  in  this  range. 
On  the  other  hand,  many  said  this  range  was  the  hardest 
for  them  to  judge  because  the  character  of  all  the  sounds 
was  very  much  the  same.  The  extremes  were  claimed  to  be 
difficult  because  of  the  lack  of  definite  pitch  there.  Others 
noticed  distinguishable  characteristics  at  the  extremes  not 
found  in  the  middle  of  the  keyboard.  The  fact  that  within 
limits  underestimations  could  not  be  made  at  the  lower  end 
of  the  keyboard  or  overestimations  at  the  upper  end  eliminated 
a  source  of  error  found  in  the  middle  range. 

Forty-five  observers  expressed  themselves  as  having  en- 
joyed the  experiment  throughout  its  course.  They  were  in- 
terested in  watching  their  progress  and  anticipating  results. 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  71 

Fifteen  found  it  very  difficult  and  tedious.    Eleven  claimed  to 
have  maintained  a  neutral  attitude. 

A  survey  of  the  introspections  recorded  by  the  observers 
at  each  trial  throws  light  on  some  of  the  problems  involved  in 
tonal  recognition  and  possible  methods  of  meeting  them.^  It 
is  striking  how  few  allusions  are  made  directly  to  the  pitch 
of  the  notes.  Several  observers  write:  "Tried  to  get  the 
general  range  and  tonal  qualities  of  the  different  piano  notes. 
The  quality  gets  deeper  and  more  resonant  as  the  notes  go 
down.  Each  octave  has  a  different  quality  of  its  own." 
"After  practice  noticed  that  the  different  notes  seem  to  have 
different  volumes."  "The  volume  of  the  note  helps  to  place 
it  in  the  right  octave."  "The  last  octave  has  a  certain  metallic 
ring."  "Prefer  low  notes  because  they  jar  less  than  high  ones 
and  can  be  attended  to  better."  "The  difference  between 
octaves  is  one  of  intensity."  (This  observer  claims  to  be 
tone-deaf.)  "Tone  color  helped."  "The  higher  notes  do  not 
last  (resound)  as  long  as  the  lower  ones.  Many  notes  almost 
pained  the  ear."  "Listened  for  the  vibrating  quality  which 
differentiates  the  high  notes  from  the  lower.  High  notes 
are  thin,  the  low  ones  deep  and  full."  "Determined  approxi- 
mate position  by  volume."  ..^^ 

"Nearly  always  judge  the  notes  in  relation  to  whole  key-     \ 
board  rather  than  to  a  particular  note.     Have  a  feeling  of 
spacing.    There  is  a  certain  point  at  which  the  note  must  lie." 
"A  sense  of  position  seems  to  be  the  only  guide.    I  hear  the         \ 
I        sound  and  then  by  reasoning  place  it  where  it  seems  to  be-  | 

long  on  the  keyboard.    Octaves  help  little.     I  have  simply  a        ^ 
notion  of  the  total  position." 

A  few  of  the  difficulties  encountered  were:  "Octaves  at 
the  center  of  the  piano  are  harder  to  distinguish  than  those 
^  at  the  ends."  "Seem  to  be  a  great  many  notes  in  the  small 
I  octave."  "After  listening  to  a  number  of  notes,  it  sounds  as 
if  t^he  same  notes  were  repeated  many  times,  especially  those 
near  the  middle  of  the  piano."  "Too  many  notes  between 
c  and  c^     Do  not  know  what  to  do  with  them  all.     Forget 


'No  attempt  to  direct  the  course  of  the  introspections  by  suggestion 
was  made  at  any  time.  As  was  stated,  these  reports  were  read  each  week 
and  criticized  in  regard  to  clearness  of  expression  and  completeness,  in 
order  to  stimulate  the  observers  to  attentive  analysis.  All  the  observers 
had  used  Titchener's  A  Beginner's  Psychology  and  were  familiar  with 
his  terminology  in  the  chapter  on  Sensation. 


72  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

that  the  octave  c^  to  c^  exists."  "Practice  seems  to  make  many- 
notes  sound  alike," 

For  the  most  part  practice  tended  toward  impressing 
octave  differences  on  the  observers.  "Practice  makes  it 
easier  to  decide  on  the  octave  than  before,  but  it  is  just  as 
difficult  to  find  the  right  note  in  the  octave."  (This  observer 
had  the  poorest  record  of  all.) 

Various  methods  were  employed  to  overcome  these  diffi- 
culties. "Tried  to  recall  c^  and  judge  from  that."  "At  first 
tried  to  refer  all  notes  to  c^."  "Judge  from  memory  of  the 
notes  in  the  middle  octave.  The  lower  and  higher  notes  seem 
to  resolve  into  one  of  the  notes  between  c^  and  c^  not  when 
first  sounded,  but  after  the  second  or  third  striking.  Judge 
better  by  listening  for  overtones.  Keep  in  memory  the  tone 
quality  of  c,  e  and  g."  "If  I  thought  the  note  sounded  like 
/#,  I  imagined  g  as  following  it  and  estimated  the  probability." 

"The  first,  third  and  fifth  notes  in  the  octave  have  a 
more  finished  tone  than  the  others,  which  helps  in  locating 
the  note."  "Some  notes  have  a  familiar  sound,  but  I  cannot 
always  tell  whether  it  is  a  c  or  an  /."  "The  notes  begin  to 
have  a  definite  letter  attached  to  them  when  they  are  struck. 
I  do  not  have  to  hunt  for  a  place  on  the  chart  as  was  necessary 
at  first.  Something  familiar  in  the  quality  of  c."  "This  time 
I  did  not  have  to  think  so  long  what  note  it  might  be.  A  name 
just  seemed  to  come  into  my  mind." 

The  members  of  Group  1  had  more  opportunity  to  at- 
tempt and  develop  new  methods  in  their  longer  series  of 
practice.  Quotations  from  their  weekly  introspective  reports 
show  their  progress. 

Observer  Co,  practice  series  for  the  violin. 

Trial  1.     "No  particular  method.    All  guesses,  I  think." 

Trial  2.  "Still  guesses.  Tried  to  use  relative  pitch  with- 
out much  success." 

Trial  3.  "The  c's  are  getting  easier  to  identify,  also  the 
/'s  which  have  a  'squeezed  in'  compressed  quality  as  a  rule." 

Trial  7.  "Several  times  I  found  myself  having  a  feeling 
of  familiarity  when  a  certain  note  was  struck.  Usually  I 
thought  it  was  c  or  a,  or  g  or  b,  and  then  had  to  decide,  some- 
times by  humming,  which  of  the  two  it  was.  With  the  other 
notes,  I  identified  the  string  on  which  they  were  being  played 
and  then  the  position  of  the  note." 

Trial  9.     "Although  I  succeeded  in  confusing  the  d  and  a 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  73 

strings  to  some  extent,  the  notes  on  these  two  seemed  to 
possess  something  of  a  'quale'." 

Trial  10.  "Usual  method  now  is  either  (1)  immediate  or 
almost  immediate  recognition,  after  which  I  usually  try  to 
verify;  or  (2)  visual  image  of  string  and  kinaesthetic  imagery 
with  little  auditory;  or  (3)  absolute  blank,  followed  by  an  at- 
tempt to  follow  out  procedure  (2)." 

Trial  11.  "It  is  seldom  a  note  is  absolutely  certain  in 
my  mind  upon  hearing  it.  Usually  I  have  to  go  through  a 
series  of  checks  after  I  have  decided  what  it  is.  In  general 
these  checks  are  kinaesthesis  (vocal  motor  sensations),  re- 
lated auditory  images  and  a  few  visual  images  in  connection 
with  the  auditory." 

Same  observer  Co,  practice  series  on  the  piano,  following 
the  series  on  the  violin. 

Trial  1.  "All  the  octaves  save  the  middle  one  and  a  few 
notes  on  either  side  were  guesses.  With  the  notes  of  the 
middle  octave,  I  used  kinaesthetic  sensations  and  actual 
humming  to  identify  them.  The  other  notes  I  tried  to  relate 
to  the  corresponding  notes  in  the  middle  octave." 

Trial  2.  "Related  the  notes  to  those  on  the  violin.  G 
seems  to  me  to  be  the  lowest  note  which  has  real  'roundness'." 

Trial  4.  "Tried  to  do  away  with  the  humming  in  my 
judgments  this  time.  Took  my  snap  judgment  and  then 
tried  to  find  out  the  peculiar  'quality'  of  that  particular  note, 
and  fitted  them  together.  If  they  did  not  fit,  I  had  to  discard 
my  snap  judgment  and  try  the  humming  method  or  else  let 
it  go  as  a  mere  guess." 

Trial  6.  "The  notes  seemed  to  have  'qualities'  for  me 
for  the  first  time.  It  seemed  as  though  I  could  have  finally 
distinguished  many  of  them  if  I  had  taken  time  to  associate 
that  'quality'  with  the  same  note  in  the  middle  octave." 

Observer  B,  practice  series  on  the  piano. 

Trial  1.  "Tried  at  first  to  relate  the  notes  to  a  remem- 
bered c^.  Found  I  could  not  remember  cS  when  another 
note  was  played.  Noticed  I  could  remember  the  violin  a^, 
so  related  notes  to  it.  Related  the  extreme  octaves  to  the 
middle  octave." 

Trial  2.  "When  a  note  was  struck  I  hummed  it  in  the 
middle  octave  calling  it  do,  and  hummed  the  me,  sol,  do  above." 

Trial  13.  "The  following  factors  help  me  in  naming  a 
note,   (1)   humming  the  note  and  its  diatonic  scale.     If  the 


t4  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

note  is  not  within  my  range,  I  give  it  a  position  in  the 
scale  I  can  hum,  and  later  place  it  in  its  right  octave.  (2) 
I  seem  to  tell  whether  the  note  is  a  sharp  or  a  natural  by  the 
way  it  is  struck.  (3)  The  highest  and  lowest  notes  I  tell  by 
the  amount  of  tone." 

Observer  E,  practice  series  on  the  piano. 

Trial  1.  "Felt  absolutely  helpless  when  I  first  Heard  the 
notes.  Could  not  tell  one  octave  from  the  other.  I  had  an 
idea  of  c^,  but  could  not  tell  when  it  was  heard." 

Trial  2.  "Felt  a  little  surer  of  myself.  During  the  prac- 
tice periods  of  this  week  I  spent  most  of  the  time  on  the 
middle,  the  second  and  the  highest  octaves,  trying  to  detect 
slight  differences  between  notes.  Certain  notes  like  e  and  / 
seem  to  have  the  same  quality,  which  make  them  difficult  to 
distinguish.  I  gave  up  the  idea  of  singing  the  notes  and  at- 
tempted to  tell  directly  by  their  sound.  This  seems  to  be  more 
satisfactory." 

Trial  4.  "Notice  that  the  thrice-accented  octave  has  a 
marked  difference  in  quality  from  the  others.  It  is  more 
rasping." 

Trial  10.  "The  placing  of  the  octave  does  not  bother  me 
a  great  deal.  I  felt  fairly  sure  of  the  octaves  except  the  two 
lowest." 

Trial  11.  "The  middle  octaves  I  sing  to  be  sure  of  the 
notes.  Others  I  judge  entirely  by  their  pitch.  By  having  the 
note  repeated  if  I  am  not  sure  at  first,  I  can  get  an  im- 
mediate judgment  or  nearly  that." 

Trial  12.  "Feel  that  I  am  improving.  The  quality  of  the 
note  rather  than  the  pitch  locates  it  for  me  in  the  scale." 

Observer  F,  practice  series  for  the  piano. 

Trial  5.  "When  I  started  this  trial  I  had  an  auditory 
image  of  a^  firmly  in  mind,  as  a  result  of  previous  practice. 
The  first  few  notes  were  correctly  named  through  relative 
pitch.  Then  a  low  note  threw  me  off.  A  great  deal  of  the 
time  I  first  listened  carefully  to  the  sound  of  the  note  and 
tried  to  think  what  note  it  was  without  using  indirect  means, 
and  then  compared  the  result  with  a  muscular  sensation  in 
the  throat.  Some  times  no  comparison  was  necessary,  for  I 
was  certain  what  note  it  was  without  any  comparison.  When- 
ever I  came  across  one  of  these  notes  of  which  I  felt  certain, 
which  were  a's,  d's,  e's,  and  c%  I  used  relative  pitch  with  the 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  75 

succeeding  notes  until  some  wide  interval  skip  between  notes 
put  me  off." 

Trial  6.  "Depended  mostly  on  humming  the  note  in  the 
singing  range.  Sometimes  just  listened  to  the  notes.  Got 
more  right  by  the  latter  method." 

Trial  10.  "The  notes  now  seem  to  have  different  quali- 
ties,— some  are  open,  some  vibrate  more  than  others  and  some 
are  dull.    They  also  seem  to  have  more  place  on  the  scale. 

Trial  14.  "It  is  very  difficult  for  me  to  keep  my  attention 
fixed.  My  ears  feel  strained  listening  for  overtones  or  purity 
of  tone.  I  recognize  the  sound  of  some  of  the  notes  and  then 
forget  the  name  to  be  associated  with  it.  It  seems  an  inter- 
minable task  to  differentiate  between  so  many  notes."  (F  had 
twenty-five  correct  judgments  in  this  trial.) 

Characteristics  which  F  associated  with  some  of  the  notes : 

C  real  tone  not  heard. 

G  funny  overtone  wave. 

D  weaker  after  it  is  held  a  few  seconds. 

Eb  very  strong. 

E  not  as  strong  as  E^. 

A  buzz  or  low  rattle — hard. 

Bb  thump  when  struck. 

B  funny  sound  when  key  is  lifted, 

c  fiats  after  a  second. 

c#  second  overtone  rings  out. 

d  flats  when  struck — strings  not  tuned  together. 

e\)  deep,  hollow  sound, 

c^  flat — no  overtones — harsh. 

c#^  after  a  few  seconds  part  of  tone  flats. 

f #^  rattle  when  played  softly. 

gij;^  thump. 

a^  open,  rings  out,  not  as  much  as  e^. 

"  ■  d^  rings  out  but  softer. 

d#2  hollow  when  key  is  lifted. 

e^  rings  out  more  than  c^. 

g*  sharp  as  a  knife. 

a^  very  sharp  and  clear, 

bb*  muffled. 

b*  woody,  longer  sound  than  c^ 

c°  woody. 


76  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

Observer  C,  practice  series  for  the  piano. 

Trial  1.  "A  feeling  of  amusement  at  my  helplessness  in 
such  a  situation.  However,  a  strong  determination  to  do  as 
well  as  possible.  When  seated  before  the  scale,  listening  for 
the  note,  my  eyes  were  resting  upon  the  middle  of  the  scale. 
When  the  note  was  struck  my  eyes  turned  either  to  the  right 
or  left,  according  to  whether  the  note  sounded  high  or  low, 
and  continued  to  move  until  they  seemed  to  reach  the  note 
heard.  There  was  no  conscious  analysis  of  tones.  But  my 
idea  of  the  position  of  the  note  was  so  definite  in  mind  that 
my  eyes  readily  stopped  at  some  fixed  place,  and  the  judg- 
ments were  made  with  slight  hesitation.  This  made  me  con- 
clude that  discriminations  need  not  be  due  to  conscious  com- 
parison, but  that  a  method  of  training  to  develop  immediate 
judgment  would  be  adequate." 

Trial  2.  "During  period  of  practice  I  sounded  the  var- 
ious C's  on  the  piano  in  order  to  get  a  clear  idea  of  the 
characteristics  of  the  different  octaves.  I  noticed  when  the 
low  notes  began  to  have  distinct  overtones  and  where  the 
high  notes  disappeared  into  their  more  prominent  overtones. 
I  tried  to  differentiate  the  timbre  of  the  lowest  two  bass 
octaves  and  also  that  of  the  highest  two  octaves.  At  the 
end  of  the  practice  I  felt  confident  that  at  least  I  could  place 
a  note  in  its  proper  octave. 

"This  test  was  made  after  my  partner  had  been  tested. 
She  used  a  method  of  conscious  comparison,  humming  to  get 
the  interval  more  clear  in  mind.  Her  results  were  on  the 
whole  quite  accurate.  I  realized  that  that  method  was  prob- 
bably  more  reliable  than  mine,  so  I  undertook  my  own  trial 
with  some  hesitation.  At  first  I  tried  to  use  her  method,  but 
realized  that  I  had  not  had  sufficient  training  for  it.  I  then 
resorted  to  the  method  of  immediate  judgment  which  had 
previously  appealed  to  me.  I  found  I  was  reduced  largely  to 
guessing  and  that  my  practice  to  try  and  differentiate  the 
octaves  had  amounted  to  little.  The  lowest  and  highest  notes 
were  not  as  distinct  from  each  other  as  I  had  anticipated. 
Feeling  of  discouragement." 

Trial  3.  "During  the  practice  period  I  endeavored  to 
learn  to  differentiate  the  octaves,  as  before.  I  tried  to  analyze 
the  quality  of  each,  so  that  I  could  at  least  place  the  note  in 
the  proper  octave.  More  attempt  to  get  the  note  placed  in 
the  right  octave,  than  to  get  the  correct  name  of  the  note.  The 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  77 

name  of  the  note  usually  came  readily  to  mind  without  con- 
scious comparison,  but  the  determination  of  its  octave  was 
still  perplexing.  Feeling  of  helplessness  usually  with  very 
little  confidence,  especially  in  regard  to  the  high  and  low 
notes." 

Trial  4.  "During  the  practice  period  I  was  anxious  to 
be  able  to  name  the  note  correctly  as  well  as  place  it  in  the 
octave.  I  played  over  the  middle  octave  many  times  trying 
to  fix  it  in  mind,  in  pitch  and  relative  variations  in  pitch. 
When  I  found  I  could  hum  it  readily  and  accurately,  I  hit  at 
random  notes  on  piano  to  see  if  I  could  name  them  correctly. 
Result — small  percentage  of  right  answers.  Used  method  of 
conscious  comparison.  I  tried  to  place  the  note  heard  in  the 
scale  of  c^-c^  and  then  place  it  in  the  proper  octave.  My 
reaction  took  longer  but  I  had  more  of  a  feeling  of  confidence. 
There  was  difficulty  in  being  able  to  keep  pitch  of  c^  very 
clearly  in  mind.  I  did  not  attempt  to  locate  sharps  or  flats 
to  any  extent.    Not  entirely  satisfied  with  this  method." 

Trial  5.  "During  the  practice  period  I  tried  to  fix  sepa- 
rate intervals  clearly  in  my  mind.  From  the  sound  of  middle 
c  I  would  try  to  work  out  the  pitch  of  notes  at  various  in- 
tervals from  this.  I  sang  the  notes,  trying  to  train  my  ear 
to  become  more  accurate.  After  I  had  secured  the  note  I 
played  it  on  the  piano,  in  order  to  see  how  correct  my  judg- 
ment had  been.  There  was  great  inaccuracy  at  first  but  I 
found  improvement  before  the  practice  was  completed.  The 
pitch  was  determined  by  singing  do  mi  sol  do  from  middle 
c  to  try  and  locate  the  given  tone.  I  still  felt  very  hesitant 
about  my  ability  and  I  could  not  see  in  what  way  my  practice 
had  helped  me.  During  this  sitting  it  occurred  to  me  that  I 
could  use  my  highest  and  lowest  singing  notes  for  standards 
which  would  be  less  likely  to  vary  than  my  memory  of  middle 
c.  I  determined  to  attempt  that  at  my  next  practice  period." 
.  Trial  6.  "During  the  practice  period  I  played  the  various 
high  and  low  notes  in  order  to  try  and  hum  their  octave  in  mid- 
dle range.  I  found  that  I  frequently  judged  their  pitch  a  fifth 
or  a  third  off  so  I  continued  my  practice  until  I  could  readily 
distinguish  the  octave  of  the  note  struck.  Then  I  tried  to 
discover  my  high  and  low  thresholds  for  humming  tones  so 
that  I  could  use  them  for  bases  for  comparison.  I  found  I 
could  get  the  pitch  of  the  given  tone  more  clear  in  mind  than 
at  any  previous  sitting.    But  it  was  still  hard  work  to  name 


78'  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

the  note.  I  sang  down  the  scale  as  far  as  I  could  and  tried  to 
learn  from  the  last  note  what  scale  I  had  been  singing.  I 
felt  still  very  uncertain  about  my  accuracy.  In  the  case  of 
middle  c  I  judged  it  correctly  more  from  the  feeling  of  famil- 
iarity accompanying  it  than  from  its  relation  to  my  lower 
threshold." 

Trial  7.  "During  the  practice  period  I  found  that  my 
humming  ability  at  the  highest  limit  varied  more  than  at  the 
lowest  limit,  so  I  decided  to  adopt  only  c,  my  lowest  limit,  as 
my  standard.  I  hummed  it  over  and  over,  endeavoring  to 
fix  in  mind  the  auditory  and  kinaesthetic  sensations.  Then 
I  studied  out  how  I  could  infer  the  pitch  of  any  note  on  the 
piano  with  reference  to  this  standard.  When  the  note  was 
heard  I  tried  to  hum  it,  or  its  octave  equivalent  within  my 
range,  then,  by  means  of  do  mi  sol  do,  I  tried  to  relate  it  to  c. 
This  method  seemed  dependable,  and,  although  some  notes 
were  hard  to  determine,  on  the  whole  I  felt  quite  confident  in 
niy  judgments." 

Trial  8.  "During  the  practice  period  I  decided  that  do 
mi  sol  do  was  not  detailed  enough,  so  I  attempted  to  study 
out  the  relation  of  each  note  on  the  piano  to  c  in  terms  of 
half  notes,  not  larger  intervals.  I  decided  to  sing  every  note 
in  the  scale,  upon  approaching  c,  not  merely  do  mi  sol  do.  Al- 
though this  method  seemed  more  accurate,  it  took  more  time. 
Moreover,  I  felt  throughout  that  my  judgment  of  c  was  not 
entirely  fixed.  Therefore,  more  of  my  judgments  might  be 
wrong  than  before.    The  method  seemed  quite  unsatisfactory. 

Trial  9.  "During  the  practice  period  I  realized  I  could 
not  make  use  of  the  method  of  singing  every  note  as  it  took 
so  long.  I  therefore  decided  to  go  back  to  the  method  of  do 
mi  sol  do,  still  attempting  to  keep  the  pitch  of  c  more  surely 
in  mind.  Throughout  I  felt  confident  in  my  judgments.  But 
I  did  feel,  too,  that  the  method  of  humming  was  not  an  ideal 
one,  as  it  involved  too  much  time  and  had  at  best  a  good  deal 
of  variability,  as  shown  in  my  results." 

Trial  10.  "During  the  practice  period  I  struck  a  few 
notes  to  see  if  I  could  guess  their  pitch  immediately.  I  found 
I  guessed  a  few  right,  the  others  being  very  nearly  so.  So  I 
decided  to  abandon  my  former  method  of  determining  pitch 
by  humming  and  to  adopt  the  new  way  of  judging  immedi- 
ately. I  tried  to  fix  in  my  mind  the  qualities  of  the  various 
notes  at  the  top  of  the  piano,  analyzing  them  as  carefully  as 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  79 

possible.  Afterwards  I  attempted  to  do  the  same  with  the 
lower  notes  but  I  did  not  have  time  to  differentiate  them  as 
well.  It  was  as  interesting  as  a  game.  I  judged  the  pitch 
of  each  note  as  accurately  and  quickly  as  possible,  running 
my  eyes  up  or  down  on  the  chart  until  they  seemed  to  reach 
the  right  spot.  On  the  whole,  I  felt  quite  confident,  es- 
pecially with  the  higher  notes.  When  I  was  not  certain  of  the 
octave,  I  would  resort  to  my  old  method  of  humming." 

Trial  11.  "During  the  practice  period,  as  before,  I  tried 
to  differentiate  the  notes  at  both  extremes  of  the  piano.  I 
also  tried  to  single  out  significant  points,  above  or  below 
which  the  notes  seemed  to  have  a  certain  quality.  I  practiced 
especially  the  lowest  notes.  I  tried  to  judge  the  pitch  of  each 
note  immediately  as  before.  Some  I  felt  confident  about,  but 
most  of  them  seemed  doubtful,  especially  those  in  the  middle 
range.  I  did  at  times  fall  back  upon  my  old  method  of 
humming." 

Trial  12.  "During  the  practice  period  I  practiced  es- 
pecially the  notes  of  the  middle  range,  trying  to  get  the 
characteristics  of  the  various  octaves.  I  found  significant 
differences,  but  they  did  not  limit  themselves  to  the  octaves. 
Some  octaves  were  very  much  alike  throughout  while  others 
seemed  to  have  several  distinct  differences  within  them.  I 
made  my  judgments  with  no  great  feeling  of  confidence.  But 
I  had  become  convinced  that  this  was  the  better  method  to 
follow  and  that  in  time  I  might  make  marked  improvement." 

Observer  G,  practice  series  for  the  piano. 

Trial  1.  "Began  the  test  with  the  idea  that  I  could 
identify  a  great  many  notes  by  immediate  judgment,  but  was 
surprised  by  the  unusually  penetrating,  brilliant  sound  of  the 
piano  notes.  This  together  with  the  high  pitch  of  the  piano 
confused  me  thoroughly.  I  felt  some  degree  of  certainity 
about  the  octaves,  although  attention  was  not  always  steady 
Qr\  this  point  which  resulted  in  failure  to  distinguish  between 
the  different  octaves.  I  was  more  certain  about  the  middle 
range  than  other  parts  of  the  keyboard.  At  the  extremes,  I 
used  chiefly  guessing,  with  no  foundation  at  all  for  my  judg- 
ments." 

Trial  3.  "Attention  was  very  strained,  so  that  genuine 
fatigue  entered  in.  At  these  times  octave  differences  are  apt 
to  be  overlooked.  As  each  note  was  struck  I  seemed  to  go 
through  a  definite  period  of  orientation.    No  vivid  imagery 


80  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

of  any  sort  appeared,  but  fleeting,  hazy,  concrete  visual  and 
auditory  images  were  present.  A  slight  process  of  comparison 
and  judging  occurred  frequently.  For  instance,  a  very  "high 
note  was  thin,  wiry,  penetrating  and  short.  That  would  be 
judged  as  belonging  to  highest  octave,  its  place  in  the  octave 
depending  mostly  on  its  metallic  quality.  At  the  extreme 
upper  and  lower  ends  of  the  piano  pitch  entered  little  into  the 
judgments.  Within  the  other  five  octaves  recognition  often 
came  instantly,  as  distinctly  a  6  or  an  /  quality,  though 
usually  I  weighed  this  judgment  a  little,  considering  that  this 
piano  was  tuned  high.  If  it  was  difficult  to  tell  at  once,  I  re- 
garded the  note  as  the  seventh  of  a  dominant  chord  and 
resolved  it  downward  or  considered  it  as  the  seventh  in  a 
scale  and  thought  of  the  note  above,  or  considered  it  as  the 
fundamental,  third,  fourth,  or  fifth  of  a  tonic  chord.  If  this 
were  too  prolonged  I  forgot  the  tone,  or  became  quite  con- 
fused. My  memory  for  the  note  struck  seems  exceptionally 
short.  In  the  once-accented  octave  I  try  to  attach  a  certain 
quality  to  each  note,  and  believe  I  am  partially  succeeding. 
By  transferring  this  octave's  relationships  to  other  octaves, 
I  may  be  able  to  extend  the  range  of  the  ability." 

Trial  4.  "A  heavy  cold  at  this  trial  made  me  feel  that 
this  experiment  were  progressing  more  poorly  than  others. 
It  seemed  as  if  it  were  impossible  to  make  use  of  some  stand- 
ard for  judgment  to  which  I  was  accustomed.  I  had  never 
consciously  used  kinaesthetic  sensations  or  images  in  order 
to  judge  by  the  "feel"  or  by  comparing  with  my  singing 
range  but  was  led  to  think  by  this  fact  that  I  actually  had  used 
one  or  the  other.  However,  my  results  were  better  than 
usual,  so  this  may  or  may  not  have  been  a  factor.  When  I 
tried  humming  the  tone  given  I  was  thrown  off  completely. 
At  no  time  did  it  seem  to  help." 

Trial  6.  "In  practicing  I  played  simple  scales,  usually 
the  scale  of  c,  over  and  over,  noticing  the  octave  variations. 
Then  I  tried  arpeggios  from  one  end  of  the  keyboard  to  the 
other,  and  simple  chord  progressions.  I  spent  considerable 
time  practicing  the  first  and  last  octaves.  Their  pitches  are 
not  very  obvious  to  me  as  I  play  them,  although  each  note  is 
sufficiently  different  from  the  adjacent  ones.  At  the  upper 
extreme  everything  from  h^  to  h*  sounds  like  e*.  c*,  even  when 
I  am  playing  it  myself,  has  nothing  clearly  in  common  with 
the  lower  c's  on  the  piano.    I  can  call  up  at  will  good  auditory 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  81 

images  of  the  piano  notes  from  C  through  a^.  Below  that  I 
can  imagine  only  a  general,  rough  sound,  and  above  that  only 
a  metallic  sound  without  definite  pitch  relations.  Practice 
seems  to  be  giving  these  tones  slightly  more  individual 
character." 

Trial  12.  "Like  to  have  the  note  sounded  fairly  strongly 
but  not  pounded.  Frequently  ask  to  have  it  sounded  again 
softer  and  louder  with  a  pause  in  between.  The  initial  sound 
seems  especially  important  and  while  the  note  is  still  sound- 
ing, I  ask  to  have  it  repeated  in  order  to  get  that  initial  sound. 
Try  to  free  my  mind  from  any  bias  and  'set'  in  regard  to 
what  note  is  coming.  When  the  note  is  heard  I  place  it 
instantly  unless  it  is  very  high  or  very  low  (when  I  am 
usually  in  doubt  and  make  guesses).  Then  I  like  to  have  the 
note  repeated  in  order  to  verify  my  judgment,  and  think  of  it 
mentally  as  belonging  in  a  particular  chord  or  scale.  On 
some  days  it  seems  hard  to  judge  octaves.  The  bare,  undec- 
orated  room  in  the  Music  Annex  reenforces  the  overtones  to 
a  great  extent,  and  I  seem  to  be  judging  the  width  (extensity) 
of  the  sound  to  make  sure  of  its  octave.  Occasionally  I  hum 
the  octaves — seldom  individual  notes.  On  this  account,  I  like 
the  intensity  kept  constant  and  the  note  struck  decisively. 

"Have  come  to  know  certain  peculiarities  of  our  piano ;  c^ 
to  me  sounds  a  bit  flat;  a^  has  an  individual  quality  of  tone 
which  is  almost  never  mistaken ;  d,  b^,  c^,  e^,  c^  and  d^  seem  to 
be  exactly  in  tune  and  are  always  judged  correctly  when  heard 
and  almost  never  given  when  not  heard.  D^,  b,  g^,  a^  and  b^ 
I  am  beginning  to  recognize  as  having  a  certain  quality. 
Other  notes  are  placed  as  'not  being  these,'  but  as  having 
an  approximately  definite  place.  Except  at  the  extremes  of 
the  piano,  and  except  when  attention  is  distracted,  am  certain 
that  the  note  lies  within  a  very  small  range  of  possibilities. 
c#^  and  d^  do  not  seem  to  be  in  tune,  i.e.,  d'^  sounds  flat,  but  I 
am,  beginning  first  to  judge  t^^  correctly.  The  highest  octave 
is  beginning  to  have  recognizable  quality  of  tone,  but  it  takes 
much  more  attention  and  activity  on  my  part  than  the  lower 
ones.  The  notes  below  Gi  I  judge  by  width  of  tone  and 
roughness,  except,  I  think,  D^  and  C^. 

"Feel  as  if  attention  were  a  very  large  factor.  It  is  partly 
attention  to  discriminable  tone-qualities,  not  wholly  pitch.  For 
instance,  when  g'^  was  played,  I  knew  it  to  be  lower  than  g#S, 
but  was  not  sure  whether  it  should  be  called  g^  or  gr#.    I  could 


82  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

not  tell  at  once  whether  the  difference  lay  in  pitch  or  in 
volume."     (This  confusion  occurred  on  several  occasions.) 

At  the  close  of  the  trial  which  occurred  one  year  after 
the  practice  series  with  piano  notes  the  following  reports 
were  made  by  members  of  the  group. 

Number  of  Reports 

Observers      Notes  Correct 
at  this  Trial 

1  11  "Judgments    were    made    quickly,    based 

upon  an  estimate  of  the  octave  in  which  the 
.  note  lay.    Timbre  and  length  of  time  note 
resounds  after  it  is  struck  aided  in  this." 

2  44  "Several  devices  remained  from  the  pre- 

vious practice.  Remembered  the  type  of 
quality  of  c^,  c'  and  c^  All  seemed  very  clear- 
ly c's  this  time.  No  great  assurance  through- 
out. Gave  note  instant  location  in  some  oc- 
tave. Afterwards  tested  judgment  of  note 
to  make  sure  of  it.  Remembered  octaves 
well.  Verbal  imagery  (suggesting  possible 
responses  to  myself)  came  in.  Used  the 
chart  very  little." 

3  5  "Remembered  that  I  was  apt  to  omit  en- 

tirely the  octave  c  to  cS  and  tried  to  place 
unfamiliar  notes  there.  Remembered  pe- 
culiar qualities  of  certain  notes." 

4  5  "Used  last  year's  method.     Auditory  im- 

ages of  the  successive  octaves  above  or 
below  the  one  presented  to  determine  posi- 
tion on  the  keyboard.  Much  tension  in 
throat  for  low  notes,  less  for  those  in  mid- 
dle range." 

5  10  "Remembered  the  peculiar  ring  of   some 

notes." 

6  6  "Could  decide  more  quickly  than  last  year. 

Referred  all  notes  except  those  in  extreme 
octaves  to  c*." 

7  10  "Seemed  easier  and  quicker  than  last  year. 

Remembered  the  low  and  high  notes  better 
than  the  middle  ones." 

8  15  "No     definite    method    of    discrimination. 

Some  visual,  auditory  and  motor  imagery." 

9  8  "Decisions  made  more  quickly." 

10  19  "Tried  first  to  recognize  the  octave,  then 

the  note.  Some  notes  sounded  familiar, 
others  I  had  to  guess  at." 

11  9  "Last  year  I  thought  of  the  notes  in  their 

relation  to  c*.  This  year,  I  thought  of  their 
relation  to  each  other  in  the  scale." 

12  21  "I   do   not   remember   anything   from   last 

year's  practice,  but  in  the  past  year  I  have 
found  myself  constantly  trying  to  tell  in 
what  key  a  piece  is  being  played,  and  to 
pick  out  certain  notes  by  name." 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH 


83 


After  the  tests  in  identifying  the  fundamentals  of  tonic 
chords  the  following  introspective  reports  were  given: 

Observer  Bd,  "At  first  tried  to  pick  out  the  lowest  note 
and  sing  it  to  myself ;  later  just  listened  for  the  effect  of  the 
whole." 

Observer  G,  "Tried  to  pick  out  the  individual  notes  from 
the  chord  struck  and  judge  from  them.  This  was  very  dif- 
ficult to  do  for  the  notes  were  evenly  struck  and  blended 
well.  In  a  general  way  I  felt  a  slight  emotional  (or  kinaesthet- 
ic)  reaction  to  the  chord  as  a  whole,  c  e  g  c  was  instantly 
recognized.  d\)  I  knew  as  being  not  c  but  approximately  in 
that  region." 


Fundamental 
of  chord 

c 

cS  or  db 
d 

dt  or  eb 

e 

f 
f$  or  gb 

gff  or  ab 

a 

ajf  or  bb 

b 


characterization 

of  chord 


Blended,  hollow 
Tiresome 
Not  clean  cut 

Hard,  ringing 

More  clear  cut 

Hollow 

Not  clear  cut 

Slightly  blended 

Clearer  than  some 

Ringing  quality 

Blended 

Clear 


Bd's    characterization       G's  characterization 

of  chord 

Most  complete  of  all 
Unsatisfied 

Wistful,  not  at  all  self- 
sufficient 
Some  independence 
Cold,  impersonal 
Finished  effect 
Cold,  powerful 
Very  complete 
Self-complacent 
Powerful  and  brilliant 
Wistful,  appealing 
Self-sufficient 

Remarks  Effect  different  on  different  pianos 

The  following  introspections  were  recorded  by  Observer 
G^  after  the  experiment  in  identification  of  tuning  forks: 
"These  identifications  were  much  harder  than  those  of  piano 
or  violin  notes.  Attention  was  mainly  on  the  pitch,  but  there 
was  also  a  sort  of  vocal  motor  reaction  aiding  the  pure  memory 
for  pitch.  A  comparison  with  imagined  pitches  a  few  vibra- 
tions higher  or  lower  always  took  place  in  order  to  suggest  or 
to  verify  the  vibration  rate.  I  always  thought  of  the  stand- 
ard pitch  (435  v.d.)  as  slightly  flat.  As  I  struck  the  fork 
I  tried  to  observe  any  relaxing  or  tightening  motor  sen- 
sations, or  any  flatness  or  sharpness  in  comparing  it  with  an 
auditory  image.  The  four  highest  forks  seemed  distinctly 
high  or  sharp.  It  seemed  almost  impossible  to  distinguish 
between  the  first  four  or  five  forks  whose  differences  are  only 
one-half  or  one  vibration," 


'Observer  G's  threshold  for  pitch  discriminations  obtained  by  means 
of  the  Seashore  Columbia  Record  disc  was  98  per  cent. 


84  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

These  introspective  reports  emphasize  the  fact  that  pitch 
is  only  one  of  many  elements  that  enter  into  judgments  of 
musical  notes.  Other  important  factors  are  the  variations 
in  apparent  width  and  intensity  of  sound  as  you  pass  from  the 
low  tones  to  the  higher  ones.  In  some  cases  what  seem  to  be 
directly  ordinal  judgments  occur.  The  judgments  are  based 
upon  a  knowledge  of  general  position  and  tonal  spacing. 
Practice  tended  toward  improving  octave  discriminations 
more  than  discrimination  among  the  individual  notes. 

Frequent  methods  employed  to  determine  the  notes  were, 
reference  of  all  notes  to  an  imagined  c^  or  a^;  reference  of 
all  notes  to  their  representatives  in  the  middle  octave ;  placing 
the  note  in  a  scale  within  the  vocal  range ;  placing  the  note  in 
a  chord  followed  by  various  harmonic  progressions.  Judg- 
ments were  sometimes  based  on  the  so-called  finished  quality 
of  sound  which  certain  notes  seem  to  possess,  c^  is  char- 
acterized in  this  way  most  frequently.  Observers  report  "snap 
judgments,"  or  immediate  judgments,  followed  by  an  at- 
tempt at  verification  by  indirect  means.  A  few  observers 
in  Group  2  and  more  in  Group  1  had  feelings  of  familiarity 
for  certain  notes  leading  to  immediate  identifications  as  a 
result  of  their  practice. 

During  the  practice  series  more  certainty  of  judgment 
was  developed  in  observers  who  began  the  experiment  with 
mere  guesses.  Direct  judgments  not  infrequently  occurred 
during  the  progress  of  the  tests.  A  knowledge  of  octave 
differences  came  first  in  most  cases,  and  later  a  feeling  for 
individual  notes. 

Some  observers  attempted  to  build  up  a  memory  for  sep- 
arate notes  by  the  formation  of  non-essential  associations, 
such  as:  B  has  a  funny  sound  when  the  key  is  lifted.  In  c# 
the  second  overtone  rings  out.  /#  rattles  when  played  softly. 
Noticed  where  low  notes  begin  to  have  distinct  overtones  and 
where  high  notes  disappear  into  their  more  prominent  over- 
tones. The  association  that  c,  e  and  g  have  a  finished  quality 
may  be  the  result  of  some  habitual  motor  or  perceptual  re- 
action to  these  sounds.  The  notion  that  several  observers  had 
that  certain  notes  are  not  quite  in  tune  indicates  also  that 
they  may  have  established  a  temporary  or  moderately  lasting 
'set,'  auditory  or  motor,  which  gives  rise  to  the  feelings  of 
the  *in-tuneness'  or  the  flatness. 

The  introspections  following  the  experiment  with  the 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  85 

tuning  forks  emphasize  again  the  effectiveness  of  a  possible 
auditory  or  motor  neural  adjustment.  This  gives  rise  to  an 
immediate  judgment  of  higher,  lower  or  the  same,  eliminating 
the  comparison  judgment  with  the  aid  of  images. 

The  effect  of  the  different  distributions  of  black  and  white 
keys  in  the  various  chord  combinations  is  illustrated  by  the 
observers'  characterizations  of  the  chords.  The  tonic  chords 
built  up  on  c,  f,  and  g,  which  possess  no  accidentals  are  uni- 
formly called  hollow  or  complete.  The  rise  in  pitch  also 
changes  the  feeling-effect  for  the  chord.  The  higher  pitches 
are  thought  of  as  more  ringing  or  powerful. 

After  the  lapse  of  a  year  with  no  deliberate  effort  to 
preserve  any  of  the  previously  acquired  ability  to  identify 
piano  notes  it  is  found  that  a  number  of  essentials  are  still 
retained.  The  observers  could  still  make  use  of  their  know- 
ledge of  octave  differences,  or  more  accurately  differences  in 
volume,  for,  as  was  remarked,  some  octaves  have  more  than 
one  change  in  them.  In  some  cases  the  mental  set  for  c's  re- 
mained, although  other  adjustments  were  much  less  clear. 
Former  inaccuracies  of  the  attention  were  recalled  to  aid  this 
later  test.  Interest  in  this  sort  of  tonal  judgment  was  re- 
tained by  one  observer,  who  found  herself  constantly  trying 
to  tell  the  key  of  a  piece  and  to  pick  out  individual  notes. 


V 

SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS 

a.  Effects  of  'practice  Practice  has  a  marked  effect  on 
an  individual's  ability  to  identify  musical  notes,  that  is  dis- 
tinct from  the  inital  capacity  of  the  individual,  or  from  the 
type  of  instrument  used  in  producing  the  notes.  The  ob- 
servers in  these  tests  improved  irregularly  from  trial  to  trial 
in  identifying  piano  notes,  violin  notes  and  the  fundamental 
notes  in  tonic  chords.  A  short  period  of  practice  covering 
an  interval  of  about  eight  weeks  with  two  ten  minute  prac- 
tice periods  a  week  brings  an  increase  in  the  number  of 
correct  identifications  and  a  corresponding  decrease  in  the 
size  of  the  errors  made.  Longer  periods  show  continued 
improvement  more  or  less  irregular  in  its  progress.  Little 
sign  of  fixed  plateaus  is  apparent  in  any  of  the  results.  The 
amount  retained  after  the  lapse  of  a  year  without  practice 
is  in  some  measure  proportional  to  the  degree  of  ability 
acquired  through  practice.  In  most  cases  some  of  the  ability 
is  lost  over  this  period,  although  in  a  few  cases  progress 
rather  than  forgetting  seems  to  have  taken  place. 

b.  Group  characteristics  Baird's  results  from  tests  on 
people  possessing  a  high  degree  of  ability  to  identify  pitches 
show  that  "cases  of  absolute  pitch  memory  may  be  repre- 
sented as  a  series  of  gradations  which  extends  from  normality 
at  the  one  extreme  to  a  high  degree  of  deviation  from  nor- 
mality at  the  other  extreme."  The  results  presented  on  the 
preceding  pages  of  this  paper  show  this  to  be  true  not  only 
within  the  limits  of  a  selected  group,  but  in  a  much  wider 
field.  The  series  of  gradations  extends  without  recognizable 
break  below  the  obvious  case  of  absolute  pitch  memory  through 
all  ranks  of  individuals  who  are  familiar  with  our  diatonic 
scale  down  to  those  who  are  tone-deaf. 

The  curve  representing  the  frequency  distribution  for 
errors  measured  in  semitones  forms  a  fairly  typical  curve  of 
normal  distribution,  and  includes  all  grades  of  responses  from 
a  case  in  which  83  of  the  88  piano  notes  were  correctly  iden- 
tified down  to  cases  in  which  only  one  tone  is  accurately  named. 
The  curve  for  the  frequency  distribution  of  correct  notes  is 
skewed  a  little  toward  the  lower  end  and  remains  some- 

86 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  87 

I  what  so  after  practice.  To  explain  the  absence  of  an 
occasional  exceptionally  bad  case  to  offset  the  occasional  very 
good  cases  the  limitations  of  sampling  within  the  group  has 
been  suggested.  The  error  curve  represents  the  individual's 
ability  in  a  more  comprehensive  way  and  is  less  affected  by 
random  correct  guesses. 

The  attempt  to  reduce  the  size  of  errors  shows  no  tendency 
toward  preferred  intervals,  such  as  those  of  a  fourth  or  a 
fifth.  On  the  contrary  we  find  the  overwhelming  majority  of 
the  errors  to  be  those  of  a  semitone,  and  the  larger  the  error 
the  less  its  frequency  in  consecutive  order  from  the  halftone 
error  to  those  over  two  octaves  in  magnitude.  In  a  few  cases 
octave  errors  show  a  slight  increase  in  number  over  the  errors 
of  the  major  seventh,  and  in  still  fewer  cases  the  rise  in  num- 
ber of  octave  errors  brings  the  frequency  of  this  interval 
error  next  in  order  to  that  of  the  semitone  or  the  whole  tone. 

The  naturals  on  the  piano  all  have  a  higher  frequency  of 
correctness  than  the  accidentals.  The  notes  at  the  extremes 
of  the  keyboard  and  those  in  the  middle  octave  were  most 
often  named  correctly.  On  the  whole  the  accidentals  in  the 
thrice-accented  octave  received  the  fewest  correct  responses. 
The  order  of  frequency,  of  identifications  for  the  seven  octaves 
is  as  follows:  four-accented,  once-accented,  contra,  twice- 
accented,  small,  thrice-accented  and  great  octave. 

c.  Individual  differences  The  practice  curves  for  the 
five  observers  from  Group  1  show  considerable  variation  in 
progress.  With  the  observers  who  continued  the  experiment 
very  nearly  throughout  the  year,  it  holds  true  that  the  longer 
the  period  for  practice,  the  smaller  the  error,  irrespective  of 
the  initial  error.  The  irregularities  in  the  curves  are  due 
partly  to  changes  in  method  of  approach  to  the  problem, 
partly  to  variations  in  attention  and  fatigue.  Interest 
wavered  at  times,  then  received  new  spurts  as  the  experiment 
progressed,  and  lagged  again. 

The  time  curves  are  more  fluctuating  than  the  error  curves. 
These  same  factors  affect  the  results  here  also.  Accuracy, 
however,  was  made  much  more  the  goal  in  these  tests  than 
speed,  so  that  reductions  in  the  identification  time  are  more 
or  less  incidental.  The  correlations  between  the  average  time 
per  trial  and  the  average  error  for  each  of  these  five  observers 
are  negligible.    The  correlation  between  the  size  of  the  error 


88  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

per  note  and  the  time  per  response  for  one  observer  is  zero. 
On  the  whole  the  time  for  incorrect  responses  is  slightly- 
longer  than  that  for  correct  responses. 

d.  Effect  of  timbre  The  identification  of  notes  from 
different  instruments  presents  new  situations  which  are  more 
or  less  adequately  met  by  the  observers.  The  results  from 
experiments  on  the  pipe-organ  using  the  four  stops,  viola, 
diapason,  oboe  and  flute  do  not  reveal  striking  differences  be- 
tween the  average  error  or  the  average  time  per  note  for 
judging  piano  notes  and  for  judging  the  notes  of  each  of 
these  stops.  Since  these  tests  were  made  after  the  observers 
had  had  several  months  of  practice  on  the  piano,  it  is  pos- 
sible that  some  of  their  methods  gained  through  special  prac- 
tice with  piano  notes  were  transferred  to  the  organ  notes 

and  aided  identification.    This  may  account  for  the  fact  that         j 
these  observers  show  less  variability  than  is  usually  the  case 
in  estimating  notes  of  different  timbre. 

In  the  experiments  judging  the  fundamental  notes  of 
various  tonic  chords,  the  observers  found  the  task  more  dif- 
ficult than  identifying  single  notes.  This  contradicts  the 
reports  of  a  number  of  writers.  The  fusion  of  sounds  with 
their  new  intensity  orders  confused  the  observers  and  made 
chord  analysis  necessary  before  the  fundamental  note  could 
be  identified.  Small  interval  errors  resulted  rather  than 
errors  of  the  third  or  fifth  as  might  have  been  expected. 

The  tests  with  tuning  forks  indicate  some  ability  to  re- 
member the  tone  of  relatively  simple  sounds  over  long  periods 
of  time.  The  forks  with  the  larger  vibration  differences 
were  better  discriminated  than  those  with  small  differences. 
These  identifications  seemed  to  be  more  dependent  on  the 
factor  of  memory  for  pitch  than  on  recognition  of  tonal 
volume  or  brightness  changes  within  these  narrow  limits. 
This  pitch  memory  was  expressed  in  both  auditory  and 
kinaesthetic  terms. 

e.  Kinaesthesis  during  the  judging  period  Good  audi- 
tory imagery  seems  important  in  recognizing  tones,  more  so, 
these  experiments  indicate  than  kinaesthesis.  This  fact  is 
brought  out  by  comparing  the  results  from  the  tests  for  vi- 
vidness of  imagery  with  the  inHividual's  ranking  in  the  tonal 
identification  tests.  It  is  further  illustrated  by  the  results 
from  the  kymograph  records  of  movement  of  the  larynx  and 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  89 

the  tongue,  and  the  breathing  curve  during  the  judgment 
periods.  The  usual  shallow  irregular  breathing  curve  repre- 
senting quick  adjustments  of  the  attention  occurred,  together 
with  noticeable  cessation  of  movements  of  the  tongue  and  the 
larynx. 

f .  Reproduction  of  notes  Ability  to  reproduce  accurately 
by  means  of  a  tonoscope  the  vibration  rate  of  designated  notes 
depends  partly  on  the  ability  to  image  the  correct  note  and 
partly  on  one's  technique  in  singing  the  imaged  tone.  On 
the  whole  in  these  tests  the  abilities  to  reproduce  and  to 
identify  notes  correctly  run  parallel.  The  experiments  in 
singing  the  notes  took  place  at  the  end  of  a  year's  practice 
in  identifying  notes.  The  earlier  experiment  had  laid  empha- 
sis on  auditory  images  and  must  have  aided  somewhat  in  this 
later  experiment. 

Criteria  for  tonal  judgments  Writers  are  agreed  that 
frequency  of  hearing  certain  notes  can  not  alone  be  made 
the  basis  for  tonal  memory.  The  results  of  special  practice 
are  held  to  be  important  by  some  writers  and  negligible  by 
others.  Many  different  theories  have  been  advanced  to  ex- 
plain the  type  of  association  involved  in  the  identification  of 
notes.  Practice  and  memory  plus  an  individual  coefficient  are 
made  the  basis  for  correct  identification  by  Stumpf .  A  kind 
of  limited  association  with  particular  pitch-blends  is  re- 
sponsible according  to  von  Kries  for  memory  for  pitch,  because 
the  instruments  most  frequently  heard  are  not  invariably  the 
ones  remembered.  The  ability  is  attributed  by  Abraham  to 
associations  of  pitch  built  up  in  the  auditory  realm.  In  some 
people  the  sensory  equipment  may  be  finer  so  that  finer  dif- 
ferences of  tone  quality  are  recognized,  or  certain  association 
paths  in  the  brain  may  be  more  numerous  or  more  closely  knit 
together  than  in  other  people.  The  mechanism  of  the  in- 
strument producing  the  sounds  may  be  such  as  to  give  to  the 
different  notes  definite  coloring  which  becomes  associated 
with  them,  or  the  structure  of  the  ear  itself  may  affect  the 
character  of  certain  notes. 

The  tonal  series  may  be  regarded  in  two  ways,  first  as  a 
qualitative  series,  constituted  by  variations  in  pitch,  and  sec- 
ond as  a  quantitative  series  with  the  single  quality  of  tone 
which  may  vary  in  ordinal  terms,  namely  in  pitch.  The  first 
interpretation  is  adopted  by  Boggs,  who  puts  pitch  on  a  par 


dO  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

with  color  in  the  visual  series.  One  may  be  color  blind  and 
still  recognize  brightness  differences,  so  one  may  be  pitch  deaf 
and  recognize  only  the  brightness  differences  in  tones.  Mem- 
ory for  absolute  pitch  is,  therefore,  not  the  result  of  learned 
associations  but  the  result  of  a  capacity  for  elementary  ex- 
periences. Similarly  Baird  regards  the  recognition  as  de- 
pendent on  the  ability  to  observe  in  each  note  some  distinctive 
characteristic  c-ness,  d-ness,  etc.,  which  can  not  be  learned,  but 
simply  perceived  if  we  are  endowed  with  the  capacity. 

Other  non-pitch  attributes  of  tone  have  been  stressed  by 
writers,  who  have  found  experimentally  that  keen  discrimi- 
nation of  tone-body  or  tone-color  may  with  practice  lead  to 
a  memory  for  the  correct  names  of  notes  in  the  same  way  as 
pitch.  The  so-called  attributes  of  tonality  and  vocality  have 
an  important  bearing  in  memory  for  tones,  for  if  attributive, 
they  would  greatly  affect  one's  method  of  approach  to  the 
problem  of  absolute  pitch  memory.  But  it  has  yet  to  be 
proved  that  the  similarity  of  octaves  is  attributive  in  that 
vowel  sounds  are  not  themselves  the  result  of  a  previous  as- 
sociation. The  experimental  evidence  is  strongly  in  favor 
of  the  latter  view. 

Watt  advances  the  second  interpretation  of  the  tonal 
series  as  a  quantitative  system  and  regards  pitch  as  an 
attribute  of  order.  According  to  this,  absolute  ear  is  the 
natural  condition  of  hearing,  just  as  localization  in  any 
sense  realm  is  a  natural  development  from  the  primary 
attribute  of  order.  This  tendency  in  hearing  is  counteracted 
by  the  emphasis  which  music  places  on  harmony  and  key 
relationships  which  are  purely  arbitrary  and  result  according 
to  Watt  from  the  adoption  of  the  volumic  pattern  of  the  octave 
as  the  standard  of  the  whole  range.  People  who  are  able  to 
retain  their  original  absoluteness  in  spite  of  the  pressure  to- 
ward relativity  possess  an  unusual  auditory  'disposition*  or  a 
greater  delicacy  of  volumic  outline  and  predominance. 

The  results  from  the  present  investigation  support  the 
view  that  certain  factors  other  than  pitch  have  importance 
in  tonal  judgments.  The  variations  in  the  brightness  and  the 
volume  of  the  notes  afforded  a  cue  that  was  used  by  all  the 
observers.  These  factors  were  obvious  to  the  poorest  observer 
and  were  readily  synthesized  by  the  non-musical  with  the 
data  from  other  sensory  experiences.  No  evidence  of  aid 
from  a  recognition  of  vowel  qualities  occurs  in  these  tests. 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  91 

Reports  of  differences  between  octaves  are  always  translatable 
in  terms  of  brightness  or  of  extensiveness,  or  of  certain  in- 
cidental features.  Most  of  the  observers  reported  a  likeness 
existing  between  the  same  notes  in  the  different  octaves,  at 
least  in  the  octaves  toward  the  middle  range.  At  the  ex- 
tremes this  similarity  disappeared  for  some.  Confusions  in 
identification  arising  from  the  octave  illusion  are  rare,  only 
three  observers  showing  high  susceptibility  to  this  error. 
Judgments  of  tonal  position  in  a  large  number  of  cases  in- 
volved naming  a  note  within  its  octave  in  a  single  act,  in- 
stead of  dividing  the  process  into  first  naming  a  note  and  then 
placing  it  into  a  particular  octave,  or  vice  versa,  although 
all  three  methods  were  used  to  some  extent  during  the  course 
of  the  experiments.  Observers  occasionally  confused  volume 
differences  with  pitch  differences,  as  for  example  when  g^ 
was  played,  the  observer  knew  the  note  was  lower  than  p#S 
but  was  uncertain  whether  lower  was  to  be  interpreted  in 
volume  and  the  note  named  fir#  or  in  pitch  and  the  note 
named  g^. 

Complexity  of  sound  was  not  found  to  aid  in  these  ex- 
periments. Chords,  in  which  no  single  predominance  of 
pitch  occurred,  were  more  difficult  to  recognize  than  single 
notes.  The  identifications  of  notes  from  the  four  organ  stops 
vary  little  from  the  results  with  the  piano  and  the  violin. 
Even  when  complexity  of  sound  was  entirely  eliminated  as 
in  the  test  with  the  tuning  forks,  correct  identifications  and 
relatively  small  errors  in  judgment  were  possible. 

The  experiments  bring  out  clearly  the  importance  of 
frequency  of  hearing  notes,  provided  attention  is  directed 
toward  essential  tonal  characteristics.  First,  the  individual 
notes  assigned  to  the  observers  in  Group  2  for  special  prac- 
tice had  a  much  higher  frequency  of  correctness  than  the 
other  notes;  and  second,  practice  over  the  entire  keyboard 
produced  a  marked  improvement  in  efficiency  both  as  re- 
gards general  reduction  in  error  and  increase  in  the  number 
of  correct  responses.  Furthermore,  special  practice  correlates 
higher  with  improvement  than  the  number  of  years  of 
previous  musical  training. 

The  recognitive  consciousness  in  identifying  musical  tones 
may  be  interpreted  as  similar  to  that  in  any  typical  judgment 
process.  It  is  based  on  frequency,  recency  and  satisfyingness 
of  the  individual's  experience  and  is  subject  to  the  usual  laws 


92  THE  EFFECTS  OF  PRACTICE  ON 

of  practice  and  forgetting.  Interest  plays  an  important  part 
and  is  probably  dependent  on  the  delicacy  of  the  sense  organ 
and  the  wealth  of  clear  auditory  images.  Without  these 
factors  attention  tends  to  wander  to  extraneous  aspects  of 
the  sound  and  learning  will  not  proceed.  If  the  observer  is 
interested  he  will  frequently  attend  to  the  correct  factors 
without  being  analytically  conscious  of  his  task. 

In  acquiring  a  memory  for  absolute  tone  the  observer  does 
not  remember  well  one  or  several  notes  and  the  others  not 
at  all,  but  he  builds  up  a  more  or  less  cohesive  structure  about 
a  few  or  many  notes.  Octave  similarities,  or  the  series  of 
repeated  relations  within  the  octaves  and  the  likenesses,  ex- 
isting between  notes  an  octave  apart,  whatever  their  origin, 
make  the  task  of  apprehending  the  tonal  series  of  eighty-eight 
steps  much  easier.  These  recurrent  relationships  may  be 
wholly  arbitrary,  fixed  in  our  minds  by  repetition,  or  they 
may  be  elementary.  For  many  of  the  observers  the  tonal 
series  did  not  contain  very  distinctive  recurrences  of  chord 
or  scale  relationships  from  octave  to  octave.  The  series  was 
one-dimensional  without  these  regularly  repeated  units  which 
facilitate  the  task  of  comprehending  so  long  a  range.  In- 
stead of  calling  the  volumic  series  one  of  brightness  changes, 
and  the  pitch  series  one  of  qualitative  changes,  it  seems  more 
appropriate  to  regard  tones  as  belonging  to  a  discrete  series 
which  the  mind  many  apprehend  in  its  diversity  or  as  a  uni- 
fied whole  consisting  of  even  divisions  of  smaller  units.  By 
repeatedly  directing  the  attention  to  the  unity  of  the  series, 
one  may  acquire  the  mental  adjustment  which  finds  little 
trouble  in  quickly  assigning  to  random  notes  a  position  in  a 
relatively  well-organized  whole. 

This  system  of  sounds  when  well  incorporated  is  not  a 
rigid  inflexible  affair.  If  an  instrument  is  tuned  lower  or 
higher  within  limits  (so  that  the  tension  of  the  strings  is 
not  altered  too  greatly),  the  system  can  be  adjusted  to  the 
new  situation  and  correct  responses  made.  Also  an  observer 
may  have  given  the  correct  name  to  a  note  in  many  previous 
successive  trials,  and  at  the  next  one  place  it  a  half  tone  higher 
or  lower  than  it  should  be. 

In  immediate  correct  judgments  of  notes  the  observer  has 
already  established  an  accurate  and  (moderately  lasting)  *set* 
or  adjustment  toward  the  tonal  system  so  that  responses  then 
occur  without  reflection  or  comparison.    It  is  conceivable  that 


JUDGMENTS  OF  ABSOLUTE  PITCH  93 

the  set  may  be  the  result  of  vocal  motor  reaction  arcs  aroused 
by  the  stimulus,  or  it  may  be  wholly  auditory.  Whatever 
its  pattern  the  feeling  of  familiarity,  or  the  feeling  of  com- 
pleteness or  relaxation  which  accompanies  the  sound  of  cer- 
tain notes,  as  cS  can  be  explained  as  the  result  of  definite 
establishment  of  associative  connections,  which  with  repeti- 
tion will  tend  to  drop  out  of  consciousness.  Thus  one  is  not 
born  with  a  sense  for  absolute  pitch  which  is  lost  as  a  re- 
sult of  musical  relativity  but  one  learns  to  acquire  a  memory 
for  individual  notes  through  the  analytic  and  synthetic  pro- 
cesses involved  in  apprehending  the  originally  discrete  tonal 
series  as  an  organization  of  recurrent  parts  and  the  develop- 
ment of  well  established  associative  connections  giving  rise 
to  relatively  permanent  mental  adjustments  for  the  various 
musical  tones. 


'■i-?^-i^^: 


VITA 

On  August  8,  1892,  I  was  born  in  Bayonne,  New  Jersey.  In  1898  the 
family  moved  to  Mount  Vernon,  New  York,  which  has  since  been  our 
home.  I  attended  the  public  schools  of  that  city  and  in  1909  entered 
Wellesley  College  by  certificate.  There  I  believe  I  was  the  first  to  take 
the  special  course  covering  five  years  with  the  study  of  the  violin  as  my 
major  interest.  In  1914  I  received  a  Certificate  of  Music  and  the  A.  B. 
degree.  At  that  time  I  was  offered  a  graduate  assistantship  for  two , 
years  in,  the  Department  of  Philosophy  and  Psychology  at  Wellesley  to 
study  under  the  direction  of  Miss  M.  W.  Calkins  and  Miss  E.  A.  McC. 
Gamble,  and  to  assist  the  latter.  The  second  year  I  went  one  day  a  week 
to  Clark  University  at  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  to  take  courses 
under  John  W.  Baird  and  Dr.  S.  W.  Fernberger.  In  1916  I  presented 
a  thesis  on  the  "Effects  of  Practice  in  Learning  to  Write  New  York  Point 
for  the  Blind"  and  received  the  A.  M.  degree.  The  following  year  I  spent 
at  home,  taking  some  courses  in  philosophy  and  psychology  at  Columbia 
University,  and  continuing  my  study  of  the  violin.  In  1917  when  the 
need  for  men  in  war  service  arose,  I  was  offered  a  temporary  position  as 
instructor  in  the  Department  of  Philosophy  and  Psychology  at  Smith 
College.  There  I  began  the  experimental  work  embodied  in  the  present 
dissertation.  The  next  summer  I  completed  the  requirement  of  academic 
points  for  the  doctorate.  My  teachers  at  the  University  were  Professors 
R.  S.  Woodworth,  W.  T.  Bush,  H.  O.  Ruger,  and  Dr.  A.  T.  Poffenberger. 
In  January,  1920, 1  was  granted  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  from 
Columbia  University.  I  continued  as  instructor  in  psychology  at  Smith 
College  until  June,  1920,  when  I  resigned  to  be  married.  The  January, 
1920,  issue  of  the  American  Journal  of  Psychology  and,  the  April,  1921, 
issue  contain  accounts  of  experimental  work  done  in  co-operation  with 
the  students  in  the  Smith  College  Laboratory  on  the  "Tonoscope  as  a 
Means  for  Registering  Combinational  Tones." 

Evelyn  Gough  Bacon. 


:'i 


'\ 


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